This Woman's Work
by Rainbowbtrfly
Summary: This is a story based around the history, secrets and sacrifices shared by both Olivia Falconeri & Sonny Corinthos: Secrets they thought would forever stay In Bensonhurst
1. A baby changes everything

_What the hell could possibly be so damn important that he would want me to meet him __at__ this hour? Never mind the fact that it's pouring rain! Where the hell is he?? _She thought to herself.

Just then, she saw him walking towards her. _What is he carrying?_ she thought.

As he got closer, she realized what he was carrying…

"Sonny!! Are you crazy?? Why do you have her out in this rain? She could get sick!!" she scolded him.

"Olivia, please, not now. I really need you to do me a big favor right now."

Olivia was well aware that he had just lost his mom, but she didn't understand what help he needed from her.

"Ok Sonny, what do you need from me?" she asked, giving in.

"I'm leaving town. I can't stay here anymore," he simply stated.

"And you need me to help you pack?" she asked sarcastically

"What did I tell you? Can you be serious?"

"I AM being serious Sonny!! Like seriously wet and PISSED OFF that you have me and that baby out in this pouring rain in the middle of the night!!!" she yelled.

Sonny handed the child over to Olivia.

She looked at him surprised, "What?"

"I need you to take her to Sacred Heart Orphanage," he choked out.

Olivia's eyes filled with tears, "You want me to what?"

"My life will only put her in harm's way Liv, she deserves more than that," he professed.

"She deserves YOU!! Sonny, you're all she has left!" Olivia pleaded with him.

"I know! But I will only cause her pain! Don't you understand that?"

"NO!! What I understand is that you are abandoning your little sister for the mob Sonny, that's what the hell I understand!"

Olivia was shaking, and it wasn't because she was wet and cold. _How could he ask me to do this? _she thought. She looked down at the toddler sleeping in her arms, and the tears were unstoppable by this point.

She looked up at Sonny, "I can't do it Sonny, please don't do this to her, she's an innocent child."

Tears formed in Sonny's eyes now, "I know Liv, that's exactly WHY I'm doing this, to spare her any harm. She'll be taken care of." He handed her an envelope stuffed with money."I'll send a check to you to bring to the orphanage every month in her name."

Olivia shook her head, "I can't do it Sonny, I can't please…"

"She knows you Liv, since the day she was born. That's why I'm trusting you with this."

Sonny kissed the toddler on her head and then Olivia and started to walk away.

"SONNY!! DON'T WALK AWAY FROM HER!!" Olivia yelled. The child stirred in her sleep.

A limo pulled around the corner just then and Sonny got in and was gone.

Olivia was too surprised to react and just watched the limo drive off.

_What do I do now? Vito! I have to call Vito!_

She walked until she found a working payphone, _just my damn luck that every damn phone I try is out of order!!_

"Finally!" she marked her house number, "Please pick up Vito, please pick up!"

The phone rang three times and then someone picked up…Olivia was silently praying…"Hello!" an angry voice answered.

"Vito!! Its Olivia, I need your help, can you meet me around the corner?"

"Liv? What the hell?" he glanced over at the clock, 3:38, "Where are you? Are you ok?" Vito was worried.

"I'm ok, but I need your help, please hurry!" and with that she hung up.

Vito hung up the phone and rushed out the house, _Lil sis, what did you get yourself into now?_

Olivia rushed to get to her block before Vito came charging around the corner ready to kill someone.

Vito turned the corner and there his little sister was carrying a child quickly coming towards him.

"What the hell? Liv? What's going on?" He looked down at the toddler, "Is that Corinthos' little sister?"

Olivia looked up at her big brother, "Yea. Sonny wants me to take her to Sacred Heart Orphanage."

"So you need me to drive you? Jeez Liv, that's what you woke me up for? You had me worried! Come on." Vito turned and started to walk towards his car.

Olivia didn't move.

Vito noticed this and turned back, "Liv? Come on."

"No. I can't Vito. Please."

"What are you saying Liv? She's not yours. You're only 16 for God's sake! Have you lost your mind?"

"Vito please don't make me. She's just a child. How am I just supposed to drop her off with a bunch of strangers?" Olivia could feel the tears coming.

Vito looked at his sister, saw the pain in her eyes, "Ok, look, let's get you two upstairs and into some dry clothes before you end up in the hospital with pneumonia or something. We'll talk in the morning when our heads are clearer."

Olivia could not stop the tears and just simply nodded.

Vito reached for the child, "Let me carry her."

Olivia tightened her grip on her, "No, it's ok, I've got her."

"You sure?" she nodded, "Ok lets go."

As they walked to their house, Vito whispered, "Mom and Dad are gonna have a conniption, Liv."

"I'll handle it, don't worry."

Vito put his finger to his lips, "Shhhh….try to be quiet."

They entered the house as quietly as possible. They walked quickly to Olivia's bedroom and locked the door behind them.

"Hurry up and get out of those clothes Liv, I'll take care of her."

"No! If she wakes you'll scare her. I'll do it."

"Ok, where's her stuff?"

Olivia looked at Vito, just realizing that Sonny didn't give her any of her personal belongings, "Shit."

Vito rolled his eyes, "Liv! Jesus!"

"Its ok it's ok, I have some of her clothes here from the times she stayed here. I'll go shopping for her tomorrow."

"You'll what? Liv, I don't think keeping this kid is a good idea."

"This kid? This _kid_, Vito? She has a flippin name ok? And it's my decision whether or not I keep her…Just go Vito, I will take it from here."

"Fine! So damn stubborn! You're welcome by the way!" and he started to leave her room.

Olivia got in between him and the door, "I'm sorry. I'm just a little anxious and tired right now. Thank you Vito." She got up on her toes and kissed her big brother on his cheek and hugged him, "I love you."

Vito hugged her back, "I love you too, sis. Good night."

She locked the door again behind him. _Ok baby girl, I need to get you out of those clothes and warm you up._ Olivia got her changed and into her pajamas. Once she was done, she changed her own clothes. She got an extra quilt out of her closet, turned out the lights, got in bed and put her arms around the little girl, "I'm so sorry Nikki, I'm so sorry he did this to you," she said through her tears, "I promise you, even if my parents throw me out, I'm not giving either of you away." She kissed her cheek, snuggled her closer and tried to go to sleep.

**The Next Morning**

She opened her eyes to see the most beautiful little smile greeting her, "Hi Livia!" Nikki said.

"Oh hi sweetie", she looked at the clock, 10:32 am.

She looked at Nikki, "Uh-oh, that means the whole house is awake."

Nikki just innocently looked at her and smiled again.

"Are you hungry?" she asked her.

Nikki nodded her little head causing her dark curls to bounce, "Eat?"

Just then there was a knock at her door, "Liv, open up, it's me Vito."

She jumped up and went to open the door, Vito rushed in with a plate of food and a cup of milk.

"I figured she might be hungry."

Tears came to Olivia's eyes, "Aww, Vito…that's so sweet of you!"

"Oh come on! What's wrong with you crying all the time lately? It's just some eggs and milk."

Olivia looked at the food then and was overcome by a wave of nausea.

"Whoa sis…you ok?" Vito grabbed her to steady her.

"Yea, yea I'm fine." She caught a whiff of the eggs and ran to the bathroom to throw up.

"Ewww, Liv…you catch a bug from that rain last night?"

Olivia was brushing her teeth and washing her face, "Something like that," she muttered.

He looked over at Nikki; she had a look on her face as she watched his sister, of concern for her and fear of him.

"Ummm…Liv, she looks like she's about to start screaming…can you get back in here please?"

"I'm coming.", she came back in and went straight to Nikki.

"You k?" Nikki asked.

"Yes sweetie I'm ok" Olivia said as she stroked her hair, "This is my brother Vito, you remember him?" Nikki shook her head no.

"Ok well he's ok, he's my brother and he won't hurt you ok? I promise." Nikki nodded.

"Give me the eggs so I can feed her," Olivia said as she reached for the plate.

But once she looked down at the eggs again…she gave it right back and rushed back to the bathroom to throw up again!

"Liv…seriously, are you ok?" Vito asked, growing concerned.

"I'm fine, but I can't feed her, can you try? Please?" Olivia begged.

Vito looked at Nikki and she met his stare with her own.

"Wanna eat?" he asked her.

Nikki looked at Olivia, "It's ok sweetie, Vito's gonna feed you, I don't feel good, but I'm right here ok?"

Her eyes went from Olivia to Vito "I eat…" she decided. Vito proceeded to feed her as Olivia continued to throw up.

When she was finally all done with the eggs and milk, he quickly left the room to rid it of the smell of eggs.

In Vito's haste to leave, he forgot to close her door all the way.

Their mom and dad were sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee and reading the paper when he came back in with the dishes. They both looked up and eyed him suspiciously.

"Since when do you make your sister breakfast?" their dad asked.

"Liv's not feeling too well so I thought I would try to help, what's wrong with that?"

Nikki's laughter escaped through Olivia's open bedroom door.

"What was that?" their mom asked.

Vito started to panic, "What ma?"

"Don't what ma me" she said as they both rised from the table to go to Olivia's room

They swung open Olivia's door to see her tickling Nikki and laughing with her.

Olivia noticed her parents and brother in her doorway and abruptly stopped and scooped Nikki up into her arms.

"What's going on here?" her dad asked.

"Isn't that little Nikki Corinthos?" asked her mom.

"Yea. It is." She said.

Her mom walked into her room, "What's she doing here?"

"Sonny asked me to do him a favor." Olivia noticed her voice was shaky, as was she.

"Olivia Marie Falconeri! I want to know what is going on, RIGHT NOW!!" her dad demanded.

Frightened, Nikki jumped and put her head on Olivia's shoulder.

"Daddy please, you're scaring her. It's ok sweetie." She soothed Nikki.

"Olivia, honey, what's going on? Where's Sonny and why do you have his sister?" her mom spoke now.

Olivia looked pleadingly at Vito.

Vito sighed "What's going on is that our family grew by one more overnight"

This surprised Olivia and it showed on her face when she looked at Vito again.

"I can't let you do it either sis," Vito said and with that Olivia started crying.

"Oh my God! Again with the hysterics Liv? What the hell is your problem lately?" Vito asked.

As her mom moved forward to comfort her sobbing daughter, her dad said, in a much calmer voice, as he was always weakened by his only daughters tears, "Ok you two, start from the beginning."

They told them everything.

"Olivia, Olivia, Olivia…." Her dad sighed. "Do you realize the huge responsibility you're taking on? Do you realize how much trouble you can find yourself in?"

"I know Daddy, but how can I do that to her?" Olivia asked through her tears.

Just then Nikki reached up to wipe away Olivia's tears, "No cry Livia…its k…no cry"

"She knows you well honey," her mom stated.

"I've spent a lot of time with her ma; she would squeal with delight whenever I came over to take her away from that hell, even if it was just for a little while."

Her parents looked at each other…."Well", started her dad "she can't keep Corinthos."

Olivia smiled through her tears, "Thank you Daddy!"

"I know where we can get documents with a new name, Dad" said Vito.

"Look, we'll take care of it, let's go Vito" Her dad said.

Olivia's Mom stood looking at her and Nikki….something was different with her daughter.

"Are you ok Olivia?" her mom asked "Vito said you weren't feeling good."

Olivia ignored her mother's question, "Um, I need to go shopping. Sonny didn't send anything with her."

"Olivia.." her mother gave her that _don't you even try to lie to me _look.

"What? I'm just telling you what I have to do, didn't say you had to go with me," Olivia lied.

Her mother just sat there and continued to stare at her.

Olivia sighed "Could you stop? You're freaking me out." She wasn't moving. "Ok ma, no, I don't feel good. Happy?"

"Get dressed; I'm taking you to the clinic." She told her.

**Later that afternoon**

The guys returned home to find Olivia and her mom sitting at the table. They could tell they had been crying and Olivia looked scared.

"Where's the baby?" asked her Dad.

"Taking a nap" said her Mom.

"Alright sis, she's now Nicolette Bianca Falconeri," Vito said as he handed her the birth certificate that officially named her as Nikki's mom.

Olivia stood quiet. Her mom just stared at her.

"Ok, one of you better tell me what the hell is going on," her Dad said.

Her mom took a deep breath "Our family is not growing by just one," she stated still staring at Olivia.

Both men looked from Olivia to her mom and then each other, "What are you talking about?" asked her dad .

Her mom sighed, "Olivia is pregnant"

Olivia looked up to see her dads eyes open wide and his face turn 5 different shades of red.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU???" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Startled, Olivia jumped up from the table and went to hide behind Vito. Vito grabbed her hand and took her to her room.

They closed the door and locked it. All they could hear was their parents arguing.

Vito looked at his little sister. "Are you really having a baby?" he asked.

Olivia looked at him and laughed "Oh no, I just thought I would play this joke on Mom and Dad just to see how mad they would get."

Vito sucked his teeth, "You don't have to be such a smart ass you know?"

"You're the one asking the stupid question Vito. Of course I'm really pregnant!" yelled Olivia, which woke Nikki.

Olivia went to her and sat down next to her on the bed, Nikki laid her head in her lap.

Vito stood watching them, "How are you gonna do it? What if she starts to call you mommy?" he asked her.

Olivia looked up and for the first time today, saw genuine concern and fear in his eyes. "Honestly? I don't know. I'm scared and I don't know what to expect. But, I can't give either one of them up."

He sat down next to them, "No matter what, I will always be here for you and the kids. I promise you that."

Then they grew quiet and at the same time noticed that they didn't hear their parents fighting anymore. By this time Nikki was wide awake.

Vito left the room to go make sure all was ok. He came back in, "They aren't here," he said.

Olivia's head snapped up, "What? Where did they go?" she asked.

Vito shook his head, "I don't know sis, but I think we should just start dinner just in case."

**Later that evening**

While Vito and the boys taught Nikki how to set the table, which she couldn't help but laugh at, Olivia finished up dinner. The door opened and in walked her mom with bags and then her dad with a big box. He opened up the box and removed a high chair, rolled it towards the table and looked at Nikki.

"This is for you," he said

She looked up at him with wide eyes, "Me?" she asked.

He then bent to pick her up and sit her in the chair, "Yes, for you. We even got you your own dishes and some clothes and toys too." Before he could put her down in the chair she kissed him on the cheek and hugged him.

Olivia was trying hard not to cry and walked out of the kitchen. Her dad saw this and followed her.

She turned around and saw him and could not hold back her tears any longer. "I'm sorry. I know how disappointed you are in me," she said through her tears

"Honey, I am not happy about any of this. If it comes out that Nikki is really Corinthos' sister, we will have major problems. You getting yourself knocked up doesn't help either." She couldn't look at him. "Olivia, is the baby Sonny's?"

Now she looked up. "No. I don't know who the father is." _Do not even try looking him in the eye. He will see you're lying right away. "_We should go start dinner." She tried to walk past him.

"Wait," he stopped her. "No matter what, you are still my little girl and I love you. You, Nikki and my grandchild will be taken care of."

With that he kissed her on her forehead and walked away.

_Is he crying? No way! This is one for the record books! _Olivia thought to herself.


	2. Most wonderful time of the year my ass

Dante crept into Nikki's room to see if she was awake and was surprised to see she was.

"Is Mommy awake yet?" she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know" he answered.

"Let's go check," she grabbed his little hand in hers and they walked to Olivia's bedroom.

Nikki put her finger to her lips, "Shh..." Dante mimicked her actions.

They slowly opened the door and looked in. Sure enough, there she was still asleep.

Nikki sighed and rolled her eyes. Then she had an idea. All she had to do was look at Dante and he knew what she was thinking.

"Ready, set, go!"

"MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY!!" They yelled in unison.

They both jumped on her bed.

Dante sat on Olivia's back and started to jump up and down. "It's time to wake up Mommy!" he yelled.

Nikki laid down next to Olivia and touched her nose with her own. Olivia smiled even though she still hadn't opened her eyes.

"Mommy," Nikki softly said, "Wake up, you promised."

"Ma! Come on! It's getting late," said an annoyed Dante.

At that point, Olivia couldn't help but laugh. "Baby, it would be a lot easier for Mommy to get up if you weren't sitting on her."

As Dante climbed off of her, she kissed Nikki on her nose. "Feeling better sweetie?" She put her lips to her forehead to check for a fever and noticed she was a bit warm. Nikki nodded her head yes. "Don't pretend just because you want to see Santa. He will be there when you feel better, too."

Nikki thought about how excited her little brother was to go see Santa, "I'm not pretending Mommy." She lied.

Olivia knew she was indeed pretending, but decided she would just keep a close eye on her. "Ok baby, come on so I can give you some medicine."

Olivia checked the time before she gave Nikki her morning dose so she knew when to give her the next one.

"Dante! You said it was getting late and its only 8 o'clock!" Olivia exclaimed.

Dante shrugged his shoulders, "I can't tell time Mommy."

"We were just going by our internal clocks ma," Nikki simply stated.

Olivia looked at them and laughed. They would never understand just how much they meant to her, even when they drove her crazy. She couldn't see her life without either one of them.

"You missy," she said to Nikki, "You know how to tell time. You think Mommy doesn't talk to your teacher?"Olivia was still blown away from her meeting with Nikki's teacher yesterday.

Olivia proceeded to give Nikki her medicine. "I'm sorry Mommy. I really didn't look at the time before I went to your room."

"It's ok sweetie, but since you guys woke me up so early…we won't-"

Before she could even get the words out of her mouth, the complaining started.

"But ma, you promised!" Nikki started.

"Mommy I wanna go see Santa!! You promised!!" whined Dante.

"Hey! Chill out you two and let me finish, ok?" Olivia had to yell to be heard over their complaints.

Silence immediately followed.

"What I was trying to tell you before you went ballistic is that Macy's does not open until 10, so it's too early to go see Santa." Olivia looked at the two pouting children. '_They really could care less,' _she thought. "You know what? I'm gonna start breakfast, why don't you two go call Aunt Connie and see if she's ready?" Olivia offered.

"Yay!!" They both jumped up and cheered.

Olivia watched them run out of the room. '_If I have to be awake this early, so will you Connie,' _thought Olivia.

"No, I wanna call," whined Dante.

"You don't know how to dial the number, you're too little. Give me the phone!" Nikki yelled.

"Stop fighting! Nikki just dial the number for him!" Olivia yelled from the kitchen as she started the coffee.

Nikki snatched the phone from Dante's hand and he pushed her with as much energy as his little 4 year old body could muster sending her flying back right into the edge of the end table.

Nikki screamed out in pain and started crying.

Olivia dropped what she had in her hand and ran to see what happened.

Dante stood in shock staring at his crying sister. The sight of his mom coming towards him brought him back to reality and he ran to hide from her.

Nikki was sitting on the floor crying, "Dante pushed me and I fell into the table," she cried.

Olivia knelt down next to Nikki, "Where did you hurt yourself baby?" She reached for her.

"My back and it hurts real bad Mommy," she whined.

Olivia knew her little girl was in pain. The only time she ever said "Mommy" was when she wanted something or was in pain.

"Dante Angelo Falconeri!! Get over here right now!" yelled Olivia.

Dante reluctantly crept out from his hiding place behind the sofa and slowly walked over to his mom and sister with his head down.

"What have I told you about hitting your sister? You're not supposed to hit girls!" scolded Olivia.

"But I didn't hit her; I pushed her because she took the phone from me," Dante argued.

"And you think that makes it ok? You don't deserve to go see Santa. I should leave you here with Nana," Olivia threatened.

"No Mommy please? I'm sorry! I'm sorry Nikki!" He walked over to his sister and kissed and hugged her.

The phone rang just then and Nikki answered it. "Hello? Hi Aunt Connie. Are you ready? Dante can't go." Nikki stuck her tongue out at Dante.

"Nikki! Give me the phone and stop picking on your brother!" Olivia grabbed the phone from Nikki.

"Another fabulous morning in the Falconeri house huh?" laughed Connie.

"To say the least. Remind me again why I promised a visit to Santa today…" said Olivia

"You are a glutton for punishment Liv, as am I" they both laughed. "I'm leaving here in 10 minutes to help you get them ready."

"Hurry up before they kill each other or I change my mind." She hung up.

Connie arrived just as Olivia finished breakfast. "It is freezing out there! Oh good I'm starving!" She said when she saw the food.

"Help yourself, I'm gonna go get ready." Olivia said as she walked out of the kitchen.

"I'll start the kids when we're done eating" Connie said to Olivia's back as she walked out.

Connie came into Olivia's room with an undressed Nikki just as Olivia was finishing up with her hair.

"Why isn't she dressed?" asked Olivia.

"Well I wanted to show you this before I dressed her," stated Connie.

Connie lifted up Nikki's t-shirt to show her the big purple bruise on her back.

Olivia gasped, "Jesus Christ!"

"She said Dante pushed her into the table earlier?" Connie said.

"Yea he did. Wow. She obviously hit the table hard," Olivia said while looking at the bruise.

Connie started to dress Nikki, but Nikki stopped her. "I can dress myself Aunt Connie. I'm not a baby like Dante," said Nikki.

Nikki started to leave Olivia's room, "Don't forget to put your boots on sweetie and make sure Dante does too," said Olivia.

"Well excuse me," stated Connie when Nikki was gone. "You know, it's when she does stuff like that I forget she's not your kid."

Olivia looked at her, "Seriously Connie? Do you really have to say such stupid shit?"

Connie knew she was wrong and didn't respond. "Is she still not feeling good? She didn't eat much of her breakfast at all," asked Connie.

"Really?" This concerned Olivia, "She's had this throat infection that just won't go away. Of course she is pretending to feel better so she can see Santa, but if she's not any better by Monday, I'm taking her to the doctor."

The women got the kids all bundled up in their coats and walked out into the freezing cold. The streets were covered in freshly fallen, blindingly white snow that crunched as they walked.

"Are we there yet?" asked Dante.

They all looked at him. Nikki was the one to answer, "We just left the house dummy. How could we already be there?" Nikki shook her head.

Olivia and Connie stifled their laughs, "Nikki, don't call your brother names, that's not nice."

"It's not nice to ask stupid questions, either," she mumbled.

Olivia stopped walking and looked down at Nikki "What did you say?" she asked.

Nikki knew that look all too well, "Nothing." Nikki lied.

They continued to walk to the train station and made their way into the city to Macy's.

An hour later as they were climbing up the stairs from the underground station, the kids grew excited at the sight of all of the Christmas decorations hanging from every light pole that lined the streets. Every tree surrounding Macy's was adorned with bright white lights. Over the main entrance was a huge Snoopy balloon, just like every other holiday season. All of the windows of Macy's had a different scene from 'Miracle on 34th Street' set up with the most intricately carved wooden dolls and props. Just like every other year, Olivia and Connie had to take them to each and every window.

The sidewalks were cleared of all snow, but full of people walking in every direction carrying shopping bags from all of the surrounding stores. The air was filled with so many different aromas. Pretzels, hot dogs, and cookies were the most prominent. There was a bell ringing Santa every few feet collecting donations for the homeless.

As they were walking from window to window and lifting the kids to have a better view, it started to snow.

"Alright guys, let's go inside and see Santa now. Mommy and Aunt Connie are freezing!" said Olivia.

They all walked into the big nine story department store. They weaved their way through the crowded store to the elevator.

When they reached the 8th floor, they were met by more crowds of shoppers. They made their way over to their destination.

They rounded the corner and there was Santaland. Nikki & Dante cheered.

They noticed the very long line, "Oh my god! You have got to be kidding me," groaned Olivia.

"Oh come on Olivia, you knew there would be a line," said Connie.

When they joined the line Olivia and Connie removed the kids' coats. Nikki and Dante went to look at the pictures that were on the walls around them.

"Hey, didn't you have a meeting with Nikki's teacher yesterday? How did that go?" asked Connie.

Olivia sighed, "They want to skip her to 2nd grade, possibly 3rd. She's far too smart and if I don't let them do it, then I am holding her back, so they say."

Connie was shocked, "Wow. Well, what are you going to do? Do you agree with them?"

"Do you know what came in the mail yesterday? Not one, but two copies of "_Mickey's Christmas Carol,_"stated Olivia.

"Ok and what does that have to do with anything?"asked Connie.

"I didn't order them! Thanks to Vito's bright idea in getting Nikki a computer for her birthday and Joey showing her how to use it, Nikki ordered them with my credit card!" Connie gasped. "When I asked her why she ordered two, she said she didn't want to share with Dante. She's six years old for crying out loud!"

All Connie could do was laugh, which in turn made Olivia do the same. "Oh my God Olivia! What are you going to do?" Connie asked through her giggles.

"What can I do? She's too smart, but she's still my baby. I feel like if I let them skip her, I am making her mature too fast. We all know that's not a good idea, look at me." Olivia sighed.

Just then she felt a little warm hand in hers and looked down to see Nikki standing next to her. "Mommy, how much longer are we going to be here, I'm tired."

"Hopefully, it won't be that much longer sweetie and when we are done, how about I take you shopping?" asked Connie.

"I don't wanna go shopping; I just wanna go to sleep," whined Nikki.

"YOU don't want to go shopping with Aunt Connie?" This surprised Olivia. She brushed her hair out of her face and as she did so felt the heat emanating from her head. "Oh Nikki! You're burning up baby! Are you ok?"

Nikki started to cry "No Mommy, I don't feel good. I lied so Dante could come see Santa but now I feel really bad!"

Dante appeared next to Nikki "Don't cry Nikki, Mommy can we go home so Nikki can go to sleep? We can come back when she feels better."

Olivia looked at her son and felt his head for a fever too, "Are you feeling ok baby? You're actually willing to give up Santa for your sister?"

Once she had Nikki all bundled up again, Olivia tried to grab her hand to start walking, but Nikki shook her head and reached up for Olivia to pick her up. "Oh baby, you're breaking my heart here and now you want to break my back too?" She looked at her crying baby and picked her up. "Ok, let's get you home baby girl."

Nikki slept the whole way home and when they reached the house she went straight to her bedroom. Olivia and her mom followed her.

"What's wrong honey?" Olivia's mom asked her.

Olivia was helping Nikki change into her pajamas. "Nikki pretended to feel better so that Dante could see Santa. Now she feels worse."

Olivia's mom felt Nikki's head for a fever. "Oh baby, you're burning up. Let me get the Tylenol so you can drink it before you lay down."

"Mommy, will you lay down with me? Please?" begged Nikki.

"Of course I will sweetie. Mommy's tired too, remember, you and Dante woke me up early," Olivia laughed.

Hours later, Olivia woke up and Nikki was still asleep next to her. She still felt warm.

She walked into the kitchen where her mom was cooking. "Ma, she still feels warm. I think I'm gonna have to take her to the hospital."

"Let's try to give her some of this soup and see if maybe it makes her feel better," suggested her mom.

"Ma! Soup is not a cure all you know. She's had a throat infection for weeks now. She's not getting any better," Olivia complained.

Before she could respond, Nikki came running into the kitchen, "Mommy! Why did you leave me?" She whined.

"Come here baby, Nana made some soup for her sick little girl," Olivia's mom reached for Nikki.

Nikki shook her head, "I wanna stay with Mommy." Olivia sat down at the table and Nikki sat on her lap.

After just a few spoons, Nikki didn't want any more soup and didn't want anything to drink. Olivia was growing more concerned, this was not her baby.

"Mommy, can we go lay down again?" asked Nikki.

"Sweetie, are you still tired? You just slept for hours!" exclaimed Olivia.

"I don't feel good again Mommy, my tummy hurts," Nikki started to cry.

Olivia picked her up and carried her to her room. Nikki started to cough, which made her cry more. Before Olivia could lay her down, she threw up, all over Olivia. Vito just happened to be passing at that very moment.

"Whoa! Is she ok?" he ran over to them, concerned.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that neither one of us are," Olivia was disgusted.

"Eww Liv, you're covered in vomit," Vito scrunched up his face.

"No shit Sherlock! I need to get us cleaned up," said Olivia

Olivia got them both cleaned up and still all Nikki wanted to do was sleep. So, Olivia gave in and they both went back to bed, though Olivia didn't sleep much.

The next morning, she woke up and went to make coffee. Vito was already there with a cup for her. She sat down at the table. "How is she?" he asked.

"She still feels a little warm; I'm just waiting for her to wake up so I can see how she is," Olivia answered.

"Ma," Dante called for his mom as he walked down the hall to the kitchen, "Why won't Nikki wake up?"

Olivia almost choked on her coffee "What are you talking about honey?" She got up and went to check on Nikki. Vito followed her.

"I tried to wake her up. I was shaking her and everything, but she won't wake up." Dante explained.

Olivia rushed to Nikki "Nikki? Nikki, baby wake up. It's Mommy, baby." Nothing. She was starting to panic. She picked her head up. "Sweetie, come on, wake up for Mommy, please." Nikki stirred, opened her eyes and closed them again.

"Let's go Liv; we're taking her to the hospital, NOW," demanded a panicked Vito.

As they rushed to get ready and out the door, the rest of the house woke up.

"What's going on?" asked their dad.

"Daddy, I have to take Nikki to the hospital, something's wrong, she won't stay awake," Olivia tried hard not to cry in front of Dante.

"What?! I'm going with you!" exclaimed her dad.

Dante started to cry, "Mommy, what's wrong with Nikki?"

"I don't know baby, but I'm taking her to the doctor so they can make her better ok?" Olivia hugged her son.

Their dad came rushing out of the bedroom, "Let's go, let's go!" He yelled.

Vito took Nikki out of Olivia's arms and they rushed out of the house to get her to the hospital.

Dante ran to the window and watched them get in the car "Nana, is my sister gonna be ok? Is she coming home?" he was sobbing at this point.

"I hope so baby, let's go pray," she answered.


	3. Siblings bonded for life

They pulled right up to the ER door, completely ignoring the "Ambulance Only" sign.

Vito's door was already open and he was climbing out before the car came to a complete stop.

He quickly opened Olivia's door and took Nikki from her.

Vito ran into the hospital with Olivia right behind him.

"Can I get some help here please?" He yelled. "Something is wrong with my niece, she won't stay awake!"

The nurse at the triage desk didn't move.

Olivia banged on the window.

"HELLO! Are you deaf? I need a doctor to check my daughter." She demanded

The nurse looked at Olivia over the rim of her glasses.

"Ma'am, please sign in and have a seat. We will be with you shortly." She simply stated.

Olivia had fire in her eyes, "You're kidding right? There's no way you're tell-…"

Just then the doors leading to the emergency room opened and Olivia grabbed Nikki from Vito and ran through the doors.

Security saw this and tried to stop her, but Vito interjected, "Look man, we're just trying to get some help for my niece. That's all."

Before she even made it to the nurse's station, Olivia was yelling "I need a doctor please. It's my daughter, she won't stay awake and she's hardly breathing."

They were immediately surrounded by nurses and doctors.

One nurse grabbed Nikki from her arms and laid her down on the nearest bed.

Olivia was so fixated on Nikki and what they were doing to her that she didn't hear the doctor talking to her.

"Ma'am? I need to know what your daughter's symptoms are. Ma'am?" the doctor repeated.

"She's had a throat infection for about 2 weeks that just won't go away. Yesterday, she all of a sudden got a fever and was very sleepy. All she wanted to do was sleep and when she wasn't sleeping, she was throwing up." Olivia explained.

"And this morning, she wouldn't wake up." Vito added.

"We're going to have to run some tests on her so that we can have a better understanding of what is going on with her." The doctor explained

Olivia couldn't hide the fear in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't get your name." he said.

"Olivia. Olivia Falconeri." She whispered.

"Miss Falconeri, I'm Dr. Roberts and I promise you that I will find out what's going on with your little girl and we will take care of her. Don't worry." He assured her.

He then turned and started giving orders to the nurses.

She stood there watching them stick her baby with needle after needle; hooking her up to numerous machines.

Olivia could no longer fight the tears she had been holding back and broke down.

Vito put his arms around his sobbing sister. "It's ok Liv, she's gonna be fine."

Olivia could not speak through her tears. She simply leaned into her brother and let the tears flow.

**LATER**

Olivia listened to the steady beeping of the machines and looked at the screens that were keeping track of her little girl's heart.

She turned her attention to Nikki, who stirred, but still had not awoken.

She grabbed her little hand in her own and kissed the back of it.

Olivia watched as Nikki's chest rose and fell with every little breath she took.

Connie entered the room.

"Oh, Olivia! What happened?" She asked as she hugged her.

Before Olivia could answer, Dr. Roberts came in with Nikki's chart and an ominous look on his face.

Vito came in right behind him and went to stand by his sister.

"Ms. Falconeri, I've received Nikki's test results and it turns out she has aplastic anemia."

Olivia looked confused.

"Aplastic anemia is a blood disorder in which the body's bone marrow doesn't make enough new blood cells. Bone marrow is a sponge-like tissue inside the bones. It makes stem cells that develop into red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets." Dr. Roberts explained.

Olivia just stared at him.

"Ok, now how about you translate that to English and tell me what's wrong with my daughter?" Olivia demanded

"Nikki's body is not making the red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets necessary. This is because her bone marrow stem cells are damaged." Said Dr. Roberts

Olivia struggled to find words. "How did she get this?" She asked

"It's not something you catch, like a cold. This was passed down to Nikki from you or her father. Do you know which of you carries the gene?" Dr. Roberts asked

Olivia looked down, away from everyone's stare. "No. I don't think I do. So, it must be her dad."

Olivia took a deep breath to fight back a new onslaught of tears. "What do we do now?" She asked.

"First thing, is to locate a donor. I suggest you round up family members to be tested. Once everyone has been tested, we will take it from there." He explained

Olivia exchanged worried looks with Vito and Connie.

Connie cleared her throat "What if none of us are a match? What happens then?" She asked.

"In all honesty, finding a familial match is actually rare. So, we will hope for the best and if no one matches, then we will begin a search for a donor." He said.

With that, he left them to their thoughts.

"What the hell do we do now, Liv?" Vito asked.

Olivia looked at Vito "We do what he said. Have everybody tested."

"But she doesn't share blood with any of us. They're not gonna find a match for her in the family!" Vito whispered.

"Now, remember, he did say that a familial match is rare. So, maybe one of us will be a match after all." Connie interjected.

As her brother and cousin discussed the situation, Olivia drowned in her own thoughts.

_Did Sonny ever mention this happening in his family? Not like this would be something we randomly talked about anyway. Think Olivia. _

No matter how hard she thought about it, Olivia just couldn't recall if this was a common Corinthos trait.

"Sis? Sis?" Vito interrupted her thoughts. "You ok?"

"I'm fine. Vito, why don't you go call ma so she can get everybody together to come down and get tested, ok?" Olivia suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'll go call my parents, too." stated Connie.

"No, Connie. I need to talk to you. In private." Olivia said.

"I can take a hint." said Vito.

With that, Vito left the room to give them their privacy.

Connie looked at Olivia "What's wrong Liv? You need me to get you anything?" She asked

Olivia started "Dante-"

Connie interrupted "Dante? You want Dante? Ok, I'll tell Vito to –"

"Connie! Will you let me finish?"

Connie jumped "I'm sorry. Go ahead."

Olivia continued "Dante needs to be tested."

"Oh, well, he is. We're having the whole family tested, right?" she asked

Olivia glared at Connie.

"Oh." Connie put up her hands to signal she was done so Olivia could continue.

"He needs to be tested…because he's Sonny's son." Olivia struggled to say those words.

Connie's jaw dropped "Oh my God, Olivia!"

"Please don't, Connie, just don't. I can't deal with you right now. Please don't go blabbing to the family, either." Olivia pleaded

Connie regained her composure.

"No matter what I may think, Liv. This is your secret to tell, not mine. No one will ever find out from me." She promised.

Just then, Vito walked back in and told Olivia that their parents were on their way with their brothers and Dante.

Connie and Olivia exchanged glances.

"I'll go call my parents, just in case." said Connie.

"Thank you" Olivia simply stated.

Vito watched their cousin leave the room.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"Nothing for you to worry about. I'm gonna go say a prayer and light a candle. Will you sit with her?" she asked.

"Of course, sis." He kissed her on her forehead and watched her walk out.

**The Next Morning**

"You really should eat something, honey." Olivia's mom tried to get her daughter to take a break.

"No, ma. What if she wakes up while I'm gone? I can't risk that happening." She answered.

Dr. Roberts walked into the room.

"We have tested everyone and I am happy to inform you that we have found a match, in your son." He stated.

Olivia exhaled with relief. "Oh thank God! What happens now?" she asked.

"Well, we need to prep both of your children for the procedure." He explained.

"Wait, what procedure? What are they about to go through?" Olivia grew concerned.

Dante looked up at his mother from his position on her lap. "Ma, what's wrong? And what's a procedure?" he asked

Before anybody could begin to explain anything…

"Mommy?"

Olivia looked up to see Nikki's frightened eyes looking back at her.

"Oh, honey!" Olivia exclaimed and jumped to her side.

"Mommy, what's going on?" she asked.

"Hi Nikki, I'm Dr. Roberts and I would be more than happy to explain everything to you and your brother." He looked over at Dante and Olivia.

Olivia nodded her consent.

**Later That Afternoon**

Dr. Roberts stopped in to inform Olivia that they would be coming to take the kids up to start the procedure shortly.

"Mommy, I'm scared." said Nikki.

"Why Nikki? I'm gonna help make you feel better." exclaimed Dante.

Olivia smiled and kissed him on his head.

"You're right baby, you are. But, I understand why Nikki is scared."

Olivia climbed into Nikki's hospital bed and Dante climbed onto her lap.

"All I can tell you both is that you are my life. I have every belief that everything is going to be fine. I love you, with all of my heart. If you get scared, I want you to remember that." Olivia told them.

They both looked at her intently.

"Listen to my heart." She told them.

Nikki put her ear to Olivia's chest and Dante followed.

"Mommy, I can hear your heart beating!" exclaimed Nikki.

"Me too! This is so cool!" joined Dante.

Olivia laughed at their excitement.

"When you're in that room and you feel yourself getting scared, remember that Mommy's heart beats for you always. It will keep you safe, ok?"

They both looked up, nodded their heads and hugged her.

"Mommy, I love you. You can never leave me, ok?" said Nikki as she hugged tighter.

Nikki's words pierced Olivia's heart and made her think of Sonny.

Olivia fought back tears.

_I hate you Sonny Corinthos._

"Never, baby. Never." She reached down and kissed them both.

Dr. Roberts and his team entered the room then. He explained the procedure in full detail to Olivia.

As they were wheeling Nikki and Dante out, they both yelled, "Wait!"

Olivia ran to them "What's wrong?"

They didn't say anything. They simply put their arms around her and their heads against her chest.

"Ok, now I'm ready." stated Dante.

"So am I." said Nikki.

Olivia watched as they wheeled them away and into the elevator.

**Hours Later**

Olivia saw Dr. Roberts walking towards her.

She jumped up; her mother was right by her side.

He smiled "It went smoothly and they are both in recovery, already awake and asking for Mommy."

He motioned for her to follow him.

"Mommy!' They both exclaimed at the sight of Olivia.

"Oh my God, Mommy. It was so scary!" Dante said.

"It really was, but I just kept hearing your heart and I knew I would be ok." Nikki said.

Olivia hugged them.

"Dr. Roberts said that the procedure went good and I'll just have to give you some medicine for a little while to build your immune system back up." Olivia told Nikki.

"Now you have to be nice to me all the time, Nikki." said Dante.

"What? Why would I do that?" asked Nikki.

"Because I helped make you feel better, stupid." Dante grew upset.

"So, that doesn't make you any less annoying." Nikki teased.

As they argued, Olivia said a silent prayer and thanked God that they were still able to drive her crazy.


	4. Graduation madness

_**(I have moved ahead 10 years.)**_

Nikki sat down next to Olivia on the sofa.

"So ma, after graduation I can go to Coney Island, right?" asked Nikki

Olivia looked up from her book.

"Nikki, you may be graduating high school, but you're still only 16 years old. And what makes you think your family doesn't want to celebrate with you?" Asked Olivia

Nikki stared blankly at Olivia.

Olivia stared back.

"Oh my God, ma! Are you kidding me? Fine, I'll do whatever you guys want me to do. You sure are determined to ruin my life aren't you?" Nikki pouted.

"Oh would you stop with the hysterics? It's not up for discussion. Now get to bed, you have a big day tomorrow." Ordered Olivia.

Nikki groaned, but obeyed her mother and went to her room.

Dante was waiting for her with a smug yet, concerned look on his face.

"Get out of my room." Said an annoyed Nikki

"You can beg and plead all you want with ma. I'm going to make sure that she doesn't let you go to Coney Island." Dante said.

"Why do you have to be such an ass, Dante? Who do you think you are anyway?" Nikki asked

Dante stood up and walked over to Nikki. Even though he was younger, he was still taller.

"I'm your brother and I care about what happens to you. I'm not going to let you go off alone with Manny and his gang. Do you even realize the things that can happen?" Dante asked.

Nikki had fire in her eyes.

"Get out." She told Dante.

"No. Answer me. Or are you that naïve?" challenged Dante

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Nikki yelled.

"Yo! What's going on in there?" Yelled Olivia

"Your son won't get out of my damn room and leave me the hell alone, that's what's going on." Explained Nikki.

Olivia walked into the room.

"Nicolette, watch your mouth. Understand?" scolded Olivia

Olivia turned to Dante.

"Dante, why are you in here bugging your sister?" Olivia asked.

"I'm not bugging her, Ma. Just trying to talk some sense into your hard-headed daughter." Dante teased.

"Sense, Dante? Sense? Oh, let me guess, the Almighty Ronnie is where this sense is coming from, right? Oops! Ma doesn't know you've been hanging out with him, does she?" mocked Nikki

Dante grew angry.

"Really, Nikki? Really? Does Ma know you stopped hanging out with Brooke Lynn and that every time you tell her that you're at the Cerullos, you're actually with Manny Ruiz?" Dante shot back

They both looked at Olivia, who looked right back at them.

"Are you done?" she asked

They wore looks of confusion.

Then she slapped both of them upside their heads.

"OW, ma!" They said in unison.

"One, I'm not stupid. I let you think I am. Two, you both seem to forget that I was your age once and far from innocent. I know the games you play and the lies you tell, because I did it, too." Olivia smirked.

She turned to Dante.

"What have I told you about Ronnie?" she asked

"But ma –"he started to argue.

"Don't but ma, me. He is older than you and I am not ok with you being around him. Especially, when I don't know you are."

"HA! I told you she would say that." Teased Nikki.

Olivia turned to Nikki.

"You. I will admit I knew you were hanging with the wrong crowd, but honey, Manny? No. It ends now." Ordered Olivia.

"Should I repeat what you said, sis?" teased Dante

"Ma, you can't be serious. You don't even know him." Said Nikki.

"I know of him and that's more than I need to know. Nikki, he's older than you. What could you possibly have in common with him?"Asked Olivia

Nikki crossed her arms and refused to answer.

"We're waiting." Said Dante, who mimicked her stance.

Olivia sighed. "Whatever, Nikki. Don't talk. You're still not going to Coney Island tomorrow and you've now earned a summer spent at home, thanks to your lies."

"What? Mommy, you can't be serious." Nikki pleaded.

"Oh now, you want to talk? And that Mommy shit isn't gonna work with me."

"So, Dante can do whatever he wants and not hear your mouth about it. But, I get to be the lucky one to get grounded?" Nikki yelled.

"Nikki, lower your damn voice! This is the last time I'm gonna say it." Olivia yelled.

The look on her face made Nikki shut her mouth and look away.

"Now, both of you get your asses to bed. We have to get up early and I refuse to deal with any of this when we have an important day to celebrate tomorrow." She ordered.

Dante moved to give his sister a kiss good night and she gave him a look that told him not to dare take a step further in her direction. So, he turned and kissed his mom on her cheek, "Good night, Ma." And he left the room.

"He's only looking out for you, Nikki. One day, you'll get that. Bed. Now. Good night." She kissed her forehead.

"Good night." Nikki mumbled.

Olivia left and closed the door behind her.

When Nikki was sure her mother had gone to bed, she picked up the phone on her night stand and dialed the Cerullos' number.

Brook picked up on the first ring, "Hello?"

"You little bitch! You told my brother! If you thought I hated you now, just wait!" Nikki hissed into the phone before slamming it down.

_Little girl, you chose the wrong bitch to backstab._

After Nikki's little fit and her slamming the phone in her ear, Brook Lyn made a call.

"Yea, remember what we spoke about? It needs to happen. NOW." She said.

Brook Lyn hung up the phone.

"No, bitch. You just wait." She said aloud.

Tears threatened to run down Olivia's face as she watched Nikki walk onto that stage and give her valedictorian speech. Her heart swelled with pride and there were no words to describe how she felt right now.

"You ok, ma." Dante asked her.

"Yea, honey. I'm fine." She smiled

"You sure? You look like you're about to burst into tears. Please, don't."

Olivia turned her head.

"Aw, come on ma! Oh jeez. Just promise you won't do this at my graduation."

"Shut up!" she playfully hit his arm. "I have every right to cry! And I will do the same thing at your graduation. So, prepare yourself."

"I'm dropping out tomorrow." He joked.

Olivia looked over at him.

"I'm just kidding, ma." He hugged her. "Not about the no crying at my graduation. I was serious about that." They laughed.

Nikki made her way over to her family when the ceremony was over.

"Oh, look it's the nerd. How does it feel to be done with school earlier then you're supposed to be? You're gonna be bored, man." Joked Dante.

"Shut up, you little punk."

"You can kill me later for this." He picked her up in a big hug. "Proud of you sis."

"Aww! Look at my babies! You guys are so cute when you're not trying to kill each other. Did somebody get that on camera? It may never happen again." Olivia said, half joking.

Nikki pushed Dante away, "Ok. Moment is over."

"Come here my little graduate." Olivia pulled her into a hug. "I am so proud of you, baby."

"Thanks, ma." Nikki hugged her back.

After all of the hugs and congratulatory wishes, Vito blurts out, "Alright, it's party time! Let's go! I'm starving."

As they walked to their cars, they heard a whistle. Nikki spun around. It was Manny whistling for her.

"What the fuck? You're not an animal. Who the hell does he think he is?" Asked Dante.

"Bro. Don't start."

"Dante, the language. But, he is right, Nikki. What the hell is that? Let's go."

"Wait. Let me see what he wants."

She ran over to where he was standing by his car.

"Nicolette!" yelled Olivia. "Ugh! That girl…she's gonna be the death of me."

"Hey beautiful." Manny said as she walked up to him.

"Hey yourself."

"We still on for tonight, right? Bonfire celebration on the beach?"

Nikki looked in the car and saw that he wasn't alone. A bunch of his boys were in the car.

"I can't. My mom refuses to allow me to go. My family has a big party planned for me anyway. So, I would feel bad leaving them."

Nikki saw the shift in his mood before the words finished coming out of her mouth.

"Well. That's unfortunate. I was hoping to spend some time with you, but I guess I'll have to find someone who cares enough to do that. And doesn't need mommy's permission."

"Ewww. That was fuckin' rude."

"It's the truth. Call it whatever you want."

"Alright, look. I'll see what I can do."

"I'll come around at 9. If you don't come outside, I'm leaving. Got it?"

"Yea. I got it." She heard a car horn and turned around to see her mother and brother waving her over. "I have to go. My family is waiting for me."

She turned to walk away.

"You got a pretty hot mama, there. Maybe you should bring her tonight." One of the guys from the car said.

Nikki turned around "What did you say about my mother?"

"You heard me, little girl. Maybe she'd feel better if she could come along. I'm sure any of us would like to get to know her better."

"You nasty piece of shit! My mother wouldn't give you the time of day."

Olivia honked the horn again "Nikki! Let's go. NOW." She yelled.

"Uh oh. Better go before mommy grounds you and takes away your toys." He teased.

"Fuck off."

Nikki walked back to her car.

"9'o clock, Nikki." She heard Manny say.

As she walked, the wheels were turning in her head trying to come up with a way to convince her mother to let her out tonight.

She got into the passenger seat of the car.

"Don't even think about it. You're still not going." Olivia didn't give her the chance to even try.

Nikki sat on the sidelines watching the party happen around her. If one more person asked her what she's going to do now, she might just punch them. No matter how many times her mother reminded everyone that she was only 16, they kept asking as if they expected her to say she was going to travel the world.

Dante walked over to where she was trying to hide and sat down next to her.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" he asked

Nikki looked in the direction he was referring to and saw their football coach practically groping their mother.

"Eww. Oh my God! Dude, a little warning next time." Nikki turned away in disgust "What is he doing? Does he think he has a chance? I mean. Come on. Look at him. Look at mommy." Nikki shook off a chill and jokingly gagged.

"Ha! Aww, come on. Fat…bald...guys need love, too."

"Sure they do, just not from our mother."

After a long pause, "That's just gross man. Like, how is he a football coach? Have you ever thought about that?" he asked her.

"Every freakin' day. But think about it, they never win."

They both laughed.

"Oh man. She is so grossed out. Look at her. Dude, go save her."

"Me? What am I supposed to do?"

"Go dance with her, Dante. I didn't torture you all of these years by using you as my practice dance partner for nothing." She gave him an exasperated look and waved him to go.

As she watched her brother save their mother, a light off to her right caught her attention. It was a cars headlights, she looked at her watch. _8:59._ She looked around. Dante and her mother were dancing. So were her grandparents. Her uncles were engrossed in a heated debate over the Yankees vs. the Mets with some other people.

She looked in the direction of the headlights, again.

As they showed off some of the moves Nikki had taught them over the years, Olivia asked, "What gave it away? My need for rescue. My face? My body?"

"Ma, we know you. We could just tell." He laughed. "And yea…it was written all over your face!"

Olivia laughed loudly.

"Where is Nikki?" She asked looking around. "Where were you guys spying on me from?"

He turned her around, "Right over there….wait…where'd she go?" he looked around.

"She probably just went inside for something, honey."

Something didn't feel right to him. But, he decided to listen to his mother.

_After a few hours…_

"Ma, she's not anywhere in the house. I can't find her anywhere." Dante was getting worried.

"Wait. You haven't seen Nikki since earlier?" Olivia asked.

"No. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to worry you and I was hoping she was like right around the corner or something. But, I checked. I can't find her, ma."

Olivia dropped her wine glass. The majority of the guests had gone home already; just the immediate family was left.

"She's got to be around here somewhere." Olivia started to panic.

"Ma. I think she left and met up with Manny somewhere."

Olivia stopped. "Of course she did. I'm so stupid. I should've known better."

"Olivia! Olivia!" her mother came running out of the house screaming her name.


	5. Life changed forever

When Nikki came around the corner she saw the jerk that made the comment about her mother earlier.

"Where's Manny?" she asked.

"He sent us for you. He had some last minute business to take care of and said he'll meet us there." He stated.

As much as she knew this was a bad idea, Nikki got into the car anyway. "Hurry up. Go. Before somebody sees me." She ordered.

"Did you have to sneak out?" He laughed and the rest of the jerks joined him.

He pulled off and as he was driving, his phone rang.

He picked it up. "Yea? She's right here. Over on 49th? Alright. Be there in a few minutes." He hung up the phone.

"Was that Manny?" Nikki asked.

"Yea, he wants us to meet him by the club."

They pulled into a dark alley behind the club that Manny and all of his thugs usually hang out in.

"Should we go in?" she asked

"No. He'll be out in a minute."

He looked over at her with a look that sent chills through her body. Not the good kind, either. She got a sick feeling in her stomach.

"You know. I meant what I said earlier, about your mom. She's fucking hot. I now see where you get it from."

"Watch the way you fucking talk about my mom. She's not one of those nasty bitches you keep around you all of the time." Nikki spat out in anger "She would never give you a second look."

Without missing a beat, he reached over and grabbed her by her hair.

"You better respect your elders, little girl. Or I'm going to have to punish you." He said.

His face was inches from Nikki's, "Fuck you." She spit in his face and pushed him away as she struggled to get out of the car.

As she turned to run from the car, somebody grabbed her by her neck.

"Where you running off to princess?" that voice belonged to Manny.

He threw her against the car. Nikki winced in pain. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"Seems you have a little problem showing respect. So, I guess it's time I teach you a lesson."

Nikki grew confused with every passing second.

"Are you fucking crazy or something?" She moved to walk around him. He slapped her with the back of his hand so hard that she fell to the ground. He pulled her up by her hair.

She started to scream and he clasped his hand over her mouth. He pulled her to him. She was in between him and the car. She tried to fight him off, bit his hand. But this only made his anger grow as he hit her again. The more she tried to fight back the angrier he became. She was surrounded by so many figures. She couldn't see their faces since the alley was so dark.

"Stop fighting. You're not gonna win." Manny whispered in her ear.

She started to punch and claw at him. She didn't know if she would get away from them, but she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

All of a sudden, they were all grabbing a different part of her to hold her down. She started to scream and they covered her mouth. She could hardly breathe.

What happened next will change her life forever.

They took turns. Every single lowlife gang member present had their chance at violating Nikki, over and over again. She cried for her mother. In her head. Because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move or talk. She just laid there.

"Hey! HEY! What the hell are you doing to her?" an angry voice yelled.

She heard gunshots, followed by movement. She wasn't sure of what was going on around her.

She felt herself sliding off of the car. But couldn't move to catch herself before she hit the floor. When she did, she didn't even feel it.

Somebody was over her.

"What did they do to you?" She tried to focus on him. She couldn't keep her eyes open, though. "Hey. No. Stay with me. I'm gonna get you to the hospital. Stay with me." He picked her up. "What's your name? Can you tell me that? Huh? Come on. Stay with me." The stranger begged.

As he walked into the light, she caught a glimpse of piercing blue eyes before everything went black.

Brook's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"It's done."

Before she could reply, she heard her grandmother cry out.

Her mother came to her room. "Get dressed. We have to go to the hospital. Something's happened to Nikki."

Fear made its way into her heart.

"What did you do?" she said into the receiver.

The line went dead.

Olivia ran through the emergency room doors. Dante and the rest of her family weren't far behind.

She ran to the nurse's desk. "Where's my daughter? Someone called and said she was brought in. Where is she? What happened to her?"

"What's her name?"

"Falconeri. Nicolette Falconeri."

While the nurse searched the files in front of her, a doctor approached Olivia.

"Ms. Falconeri?" he asked

Olivia quickly turned around. "Yes. That's me. Where's my daughter?"

"There's a special team of individuals with her right now. As soon as they are done, I can take you in." he explained

"Special team? What…what's going on?" Olivia was confused.

He pulled her to the side, out of earshot from her family.

He looked hesitant to speak.

Finally, "It appears that your daughter has been attacked."

"Attacked? What do you mean? How?"

"She's pretty banged up and we fear she may have been raped."

Olivia felt like the floor gave out under her.

"Ms. Falconeri?"

"Ma!"

Vito rushed over to catch his sister in time before she hit the floor.

"Whoa. I got you. You ok?"

Olivia was stunned silent. She simply nodded her head.

She looked at the doctor, "Who did this?"

"That's where the special team comes in. They are right now collecting evidence off of Nikki and performing a rape kit."

"A what? Wait. Are you saying that someone raped my niece?"

"It appears that there may have been more than one assailant."

"Oh my God. I'm gonna be sick." Olivia started to cry. "My baby…"

"How did she get here? What did they do? Attack her and then bring her to the emergency room?" Vito asked

"A gentleman brought her into the emergency room. Said he happened upon the incident as it was going on. Scared the attackers off and brought her right in."

"Who brought her in?" asked Olivia

"I'm afraid he left before we could ask him anything else."

Before Olivia could respond, a nurse appeared behind the doctor. "Dr. Lewis? They're done."

"Thank you." He looked at Olivia. "Before I take you in there, remember that I told you she's pretty banged up and the sight of her may very well shock you."

"I don't care. I just want to see my baby."

"Very well, follow me. But, just you."

"I don't think she should..." Vito started to object.

"It's ok. I'm ok. Please. Just stay here."

As they were walking to the room that Nikki was in, another doctor was walking out.

"Dr. Lewis, ma'am." He greeted them. "Is this the mother?"

"Yes. Ms. Falconeri, this is Dr. Connors. He was called in to consult on your daughter's case as well."

"She's just coming around. You were the first person she asked for and she hasn't stopped." Dr. Connors informed her.

Olivia simply nodded. She took notice of all of the cops and detectives that were standing around outside her room. She felt like she was in her worst nightmare. Only, she wasn't. That was her baby in that room.

She left the doctors talking to themselves and entered the room. When she pulled back the curtain, her heart stopped at the sight of Nikki all bruised up and curled up on the bed.

Nikki looked over and saw Olivia standing there.

"Mommy…" she started crying and reached out for Olivia.

"Oh honey." Olivia tried not to cry, but seeing her daughter like this was too much for her.

She walked over to her and pulled her into her arms. Nikki winced in pain.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She tried to pull away but Nikki held on for dear life.

Through her tears, Olivia asked "What happened, baby?"

"I should've listened to you, ma. I'm so sorry." Nikki was sobbing.

"Oh God. Honey, please. This is not your fault."

"Yes. It is. If I wasn't so stubborn…" her voice trailed off as the door opened.

Two detectives came in and introduced themselves.

"Nikki, since your mom is here now, we have to ask you some questions. If that's ok with the two of you."

Nikki looked up at her mother.

"Are you ready to tell them what happened and who's responsible?" Olivia asked her

Nikki looked down. She saw the cuts and bruises on her hands and arms. Felt the pain and soreness all over her body. She looked up at Olivia again.

"Are you sure that you're ready to hear it?"

The question caught Olivia off guard. "Whether or not I'm ready is irrelevant, honey."

Olivia grabbed Nikki's hand, which she held tight.

She told them everything. At least, everything she could remember.

Olivia's heart hurt for her. She was in such awe of the strength she held at this moment.

By the time she was done, Olivia wanted to kill every single one of them herself.

The detectives left, leaving behind empty promises of finding the guilty parties. But, both Olivia and Nikki knew better.

"Are you ok, sweetie?" She asked.

"Are you? I know how much it hurt to hear all of that. I hated making you cry."

"Stop worrying about me and what I feel. I just wish I could make this all go away. Or at least find the bastards that did this to you and kill them myself." Olivia wiped away her tears.

"Ma? Can we not tell the family? Or at least, not the details?"

"Oh my God. They're here. I forgot." She looked at the door. "You don't have to say anything you don't want to honey. Let me go talk to them before they come in here."

"No. Don't leave me." She grabbed Olivia's arm

"Honey. I'll be right outside that door." Nikki looked terrified. "Tell you what. I'll send Dante in while I talk to everyone else, ok?"

"Ok." Nikki nodded. "Wait. The guy. Where is he?"

"What guy?" Olivia asked alarmed.

"The one that brought me here."

"They said he left before they could talk to him." Olivia told her. "Did you know him, honey?"

"No"

"Do you remember what he looked like?"

"I wish. All I remember was he had blue eyes." Nikki stated.

"Maybe he'll come around again. Whoever he is, I owe him. If it wasn't for him, I don't know what would have happened."

Olivia stood up and went to the door and called Dante over "Sit with your sister. Look at me." He looked up "Now is not the time to lecture her or ask her questions, just sit with her. Understand?"

Dante gave his mother a knowing look and replied "Yes, ma."

His sister looked so weak and small in that hospital bed, he wasn't used to that. She tried to smile, but he saw her wince in pain.

"I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say.

"Sorry? For what? It's not your fault I look like this." She responded.

They were silent for a little bit.

Dante finally spoke "If it makes you feel any better. I still see my beautiful big sister when I look at you."

That made Nikki start crying again.

"I'm sorry, sis. I didn't mean to make you cry." Dante grew worried.

"It's ok. Come here." He walked over to her and she moved to hug him.

He could tell that the little movement was painful for her.

Olivia walked back in while they were hugging. It brought tears to her eyes.

They both looked over at her. "Uh-oh. She's gonna start crying." Dante said.

"Oh be quiet. I'm allowed." She said quietly.

"Ma, Nikkis in a lot of pain. Cant they give her something?" Dante asked

"Honey, are you ok?" she asked.

Nikki shook her head and Olivia sent Dante for the nurse.

After checking Nikki's vitals, it was decided that she should be given pain medication so that she could get some rest.

Olivia was standing outside of her room, looking in through the window at her parents watching Nikki sleep.

Lois came around the corner with Brook Lyn.

"Oh Olivia! Is she ok?" Lois hugged her.

"She's alive. She's badly hurt. In more ways than physical. But, she's alive."

''Can I go in and see her?" Brook Lyn asked

"Of course, honey. Looks like my parents are heading home, anyway."

Brook walked into the room and stifled a gasp when she saw Nikki. She walked up to her bed.

"Oh Nikki. I'm so sorry." She looked around to make sure she was alone. "This is all my fault. But, they went too far. I told them to scare you. They were never supposed to touch you. I'm so sorry." Tears started to fall from her eyes.

Unable to continue to see her this way, Brook left the room.

As soon as the door closed, Nikki opened her eyes. She heard everything that Brook had just said.


	6. The healing process begins

_**Three months have passed since Nikki's attack.**_

Olivia pulled into the parking spot. She looked over at Nikki as she turned off the car.

"Ready?" she asked

"Why did we have to come in? Couldn't he just tell you over the phone? Making us come in, that means its bad, right? Something's wrong with me?"

"I don't know, honey. But, I do know that they can't give out information like that over the phone." She tried to reassure her even though she was the one who couldn't sleep last night.

Nikki sighed. "Alright, let's get this over with."

As they rode the elevator up to the doctor's office, Olivia could sense Nikki's anxiety and grabbed her hand.

"Good morning, Ms. Falconeri! How are you, Nikki?" Rachel, the receptionist, greeted them as they walked into the office.

"Good morning, honey." Olivia replied.

"Are you always so cheery?" asked Nikki.

"Nikki!"

"What ma? I've never seen her in a bad mood. Don't you want to know her secret?"

Olivia looked at Rachel, "Pay no mind to my cranky teenager. I take it you're aware that we are here to see Dr. Roberts?"

"I bet you're sick of seeing us, right? It's ok. I'm sick of coming here."

"Nicolette! That is enough." Olivia scolded.

"But ma, I'm not-"One look at her mother's face and she shut up.

Rachel cleared her throat in an effort to keep from laughing. "Dr. Roberts asked that you go straight in once you've arrived."

"Thank you." Said Olivia

Nikki walked in front of Olivia to his office. "See? I'm dying. That's got to be it. Just make sure Dante doesn't get any of my stuff and you kill Brook Lynn, ok?"

Olivia smacked her across the back of her head.

"Owww!" she turned around.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Olivia said in a low voice so that the doctor didn't hear her.

"I was just kidding. I'm sorry."

"You have a very sick sense of humor, Nikki. I can't even say that you got that from Sonny, because he was always so damn serious."

Nikki rolled her eyes.

"Get the hell inside of that office right now and don't you say a damn word. Do you understand me?"

"Yes." She mumbled.

Dr. Roberts stood up to greet them as they came in.

"Good morning, ladies. Thank you for coming in on such short notice."

"Good morning." Nikki responded quietly.

"Not to be rude, but can we skip the pleasantries and get right to why you asked us to come in?" Said Olivia.

Nikki looked over at her and whispered. "Way to pick up where I left off." Olivia looked at her and she put her hands up in defense. "Ok. I'm shutting up."

"Of course. First, your blood tests all came back fine and the HIV test was again negative." Dr. Roberts said.

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God. So she gets tested again in 3 months? Or was it 6 months?"

"Both, actually. I'd like to do both, just to be on the safe side."

"Ok. Better to be safe than sorry, of course. Is that all?"

"No. I went over the results of Nikki's vaginal ultrasound and there is a great amount of internal damage. So much that, unfortunately, it's beyond repair."

"What does that mean exactly?" Nikki spoke up.

"Well, Nikki, to put it simply, it means that at this point, it seems you are unable to have any children."

Nikki felt Olivia look at her.

"Oh. Well, I guess that's ok. Not like I'm ready to do that anyway. Don't think I will ever be actually."

Olivia finally spoke. "There's nothing you can do? No operation at all? She's so young. There has to be something."

"I have discussed Nikki's case with specialists and they all agree. The one thing in Nikki's favor is her age."

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.

"The damage could heal on its own. The chances are unlikely, but they are there. She will be monitored from here on."

"Its ok, ma. Really. It probably wasn't going to happen anyway. Come on, I'm hungry and you're gonna be late for work." Nikki stood up.

"Nikki, do you mind if I talk to your mother for a moment alone?"

Nikki hesitated. "It's okay, baby." Olivia reassured her.

"I'll be in the waiting room."

When the door closed behind Nikki, Dr. Roberts asked Olivia "Is she seeing anyone, Ms. Falconeri?"

"I'm sorry? Seeing anyone?" Olivia was confused.

"I mean as in a therapist. Has she spoken to a professional about her attack?"

"Oh. No. I'm having trouble convincing her to do so."

"She should see someone, as soon as possible. Given this new information, she may need it more."

Olivia stood up. "You wish me luck on that one. It's a lot easier said than done. Thank you, Dr. Roberts. We'll see you in 3 months."

They drove in silence for a few minutes before Olivia finally said something.

"You ok, honey? That was a pretty hard blow that you took back there."

"You mean the fact that I can't have kids? Well, on the bright side, you don't have to worry about me making you a grandma. That's all up to Dante now. And I won't have to worry about never measuring up to your awesomeness. I'd say I made out ok."

"Honey…I know that's how you think you feel, but it's ok to be upset. I'm upset for you. Maybe I wanted you to make me a grandma, too. Maybe I wanted you to go through what I did."

"Well, guess that's not going to happen now. Can we not talk about it right now?"

"Alright. I'll drop it. For now. Where do you want to eat?"

"Just drop me off at home, ma. You're going to be really late for work."

"I'm not going to work. Where do you want to eat?"

"Ma, you can't miss work again."

Olivia laughed. "Why? Is your grandfather gonna fire me? Don't worry. He's the one that tells me to stay home when I do."

"Ohhh…in that case, can we make a late breakfast at home? And by we, I mean you." She smiled at Olivia.

"Ha! Of course we can."

Later that afternoon as Olivia sat painting Nikki's nails, Nikki finally admitted how she was feeling.

"Ma, would it be wrong of me to feel completely useless now that I can't have a baby? Because I do."

Olivia looked up at her and saw the tears in her eyes. "Oh baby. Come here." She put her arms around her and Nikki started to cry. "It's ok to feel that way. But, you're not useless. So you need to stop thinking that. And it's not definite that you can't have a baby."

"I can't help it. When is all this bad stuff going to stop happening to me?"

Those words broke Olivia's heart. But before she could respond, Dante came in from school.

He stopped when he saw them on the sofa.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"It's nothing." Nikki said as she wiped her face.

"How was school, honey?" Olivia asked.

Dante sucked his teeth and walked to his bedroom.

"Dante, mommy's talking to you." He kept going. "When are you going to stop acting like a little bitch?" She yelled.

"When you both stop treating me like a baby!" he yelled back and slammed his door closed.

"Ugh! That boy!" Olivia stood up.

"Wait ma. He's right you know. I think it's time I tell him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's not fair to him." Nikki stood up and walked over to Dante's room and knocked on the door.

"What?" asked an annoyed Dante

"Hey bro, can I come in? I need to talk to you."

He unlocked his door and opened it to let her in.

Olivia stood out of sight but close enough to hear them.

"I know that you're mad at us for keeping you in the dark and I'm sorry. If you really think you're ready for it, I'll tell you."

Dante looked up at her. "You know I love you. I'm mad because I need to know everything so that I can do my job and protect you. How can I if you don't tell me things so I know what to be on the lookout for?"

Nikki smiled. "You're adorable. But, it's not your job to protect me."

He interrupted her. "Yes it is. It's my job to protect you and ma. Who else is gonna do it?"

"Ok, Ok, I won't fight you on that."

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"What happened to you Nikki?" Dante finally asked.

Nikki sighed and told him everything, including what she found out that morning. When she was done, she noticed he wasn't looking at her. She dried her eyes and waited for him to say something. Then she heard him sniffle.

"Dante? Are you crying?"

Olivia walked into the bedroom and Nikki saw that she was too.

"I'm so sorry, Nikki." Dante grabbed her and hugged her hard.

"What are you apologizing for?" she asked, hugging him back.

"I wish I could've stopped that from happening."

"Well, you tried to warn me."

"The stupid cops never did anything? I swear. I'm gonna become a cop just to make sure stuff like this doesn't get ignored. I'm gonna find them Nikki, and they're gonna pay for hurting you. I promise."

They were all silent for a moment until Dante spoke.

"You think this happened because you're Sonny's sister and it was some sort of message to him?"

Olivia looked up, surprised by his question.

"Ok. Before I tell you something I forgot just now, can I please ask you both for a favor?" Nikki requested.

"Of course, honey." Olivia said.

"Anything, sis."

"Can we just never acknowledge my relation to that bastard? I obviously didn't mean anything to him and the feeling is mutual. I don't even remember him. You are my family. You took it upon yourself to be a mother to me. You're the only one I've known. And you're my brother. We said we wouldn't change the way we referred to each other when you told me about it, ma. Well, now I just don't want it to be spoken about. I hate him. He doesn't deserve to be a part of my life, even if by name only."

"Hey, I have no problem with that." Dante said.

"Neither do I. You know I don't regret any of it, right?" asked Olivia.

"Not even when I piss you off?" She smiled at Olivia.

Olivia laughed. "No, not even then."

"So, what did you forget to tell me?" Dante asked.

"Oh. This was Brook Lyn's fault."

"What?"

She told him about her confession to Nikki whom she thought was sleeping.

"Wow."

"Needless to say, I'm gonna kill her. But, notice how she's been gone since it happened?" Nikki pointed out.

"Yeah, I think I heard someone say she went to live with her dad's mom." Dante said.

"Upstate?" asked Olivia.

"I don't know where. I can't believe her."

"I can." Stated Nikki.

"Alright you two…how about giving me a hand with dinner?" said Olivia.

"Oh good, I'm starving!" said Dante.

"When are you not?" teased Nikki.

"Oh leave him alone. He's a growing boy."

Later that night as Olivia sat reading a book, she let her mind wander to the time she told Nikki that she wasn't her biological daughter.

"_Mommy!" 10 year old Nikki called out as she walked into her room._

"_Yes baby." _

"_Where are my belly pictures?" she asked_

"_Your what?"_

"_My belly pictures. You have Dante belly pictures, but I don't see any of me. See?"_

_She opened the photo album to show Olivia what she was referring to. There were the photos of her when she was pregnant with Dante. Now she knew what she was asking. Olivia never prepared herself for this. _

_A car horn blared outside._

"_Oh, Uncle Vito is here. Go get your coat on so you can get to school."_

_When Vito had returned after dropping them off, Olivia told him about Nikki's questions as they had a cup of coffee together._

"_Whoa. What are you gonna do? You could just separate the pictures and tell her some of them were of her." Vito suggested._

"_No. I can't do that. I'm gonna tell her and Dante the truth. I don't want to lie to them anymore."_

"_I don't think that's a good idea, Liv."_

"_Letting her think that my pregnancy with her was not as important as Dante is better? I don't think so."_

_As they were cleaning up after dinner, Olivia started to tell them both the truth about Nikki._

"_What did I do that he didn't want me?"Asked a tearful Nikki._

"_Oh honey, you didn't do anything. You were just a baby still. He just made some bad decisions in life. He felt he was doing the right thing by giving you to the orphanage."Olivia explained._

"_But you didn't think it was a good idea, mommy?" Dante asked._

"_No. I couldn't give her to strangers. It hurt my heart just to think about it."_

_Nikki walked over to Olivia and hugged her. "I love you, mommy. Is it ok if I still call you that?" she looked up at Olivia._

_Olivia had tears in her eyes. "Of course it is. Honestly, I think it would hurt my feelings if you didn't." _

"_I promise to be a good girl so you never give me away. But, I never want to see that man in my life."_

"_Oh honey. You're not going anywhere, ever. You two are my life. I have no regrets." She hugged both of them._

"_Mommy, you're the best mommy ever!" yelled Dante._

The sound of fingernails hitting the keys of the computer keyboard brought Olivia back to the present. She looked over and was surprised to see Nikki on the computer.

"Hey, honey. What are you doing?"

"I am looking for a college that offers the classes I want."

This was music to Olivia's ears.

"What classes are those?"

"Forensic science and dance."

"Do they have performing arts schools for geeks?" Dante teased as he walked in.

"Wait. What are you trying to say? That artists are stupid?" Nikki feigned shock.

Olivia laughed. "He did not say that and you know it. Are you having any luck finding one that offers both?" She got up from the sofa and walked over to the computer.

"Unfortunately, no. So, I'm thinking I can continue at the studio, or go back I should say, and apply to John Jay for the forensics courses. What do you think, ma?" She looked up at Olivia.

"Well, honey. If that's what you want to do. Personally, I think it's a great idea. When do you want to do it?"

"Look at the courses here," she pointed the computer screen. "If I'm reading it right these are what I have to take and this is all of the paper work we have to fill out. I guess if we get it all done quickly…these are all of the different dates over here."

"Ok, you just totally made me dizzy. You know full well that thing is like the devil to me. Write down all of the information and we'll go in the morning."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." She kissed her on her forehead and walked away.

"Hey, can we look up police academy stuff?" Dante asked.

"Like what?"

"You know, requirements and stuff? Like, will I be able to start as soon as I graduate?"

"You're serious about becoming a cop?" Olivia asked.

"Yea, ma. I wouldn't joke about that."

"You know what would make me even happier right now?" asked Olivia.

"What?" they asked in unison.

"If you let me take you to a therapist, Nikki. The idea of talking to someone other than me may freak you out honey, but I'm not equipped to help you like a therapist is."

"Yes you are. But, even though I don't think I need to, if it will make you happy, I will. I guess we can do that tomorrow, too." Nikki gave in.

"Good. And if you decide after a few meetings that it's not necessary, you can stop, deal?"

"Deal."

Olivia sat back down and turned on the TV. As she was flipping through the channels and listening to them converse at the computer, the phone rang.

Dante reached over and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Um," he looked over at Olivia "May I ask who's calling?"

Dante covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "Ma, who the heck is Tom?"

Olivia jumped up and reached for the phone. "Give me the phone."

"But, who is he?"

Nikki gasped. "Oh my God. Is that the guy from the other day?"

Olivia nodded. "Give me the phone, Dante." She said through clenched teeth.

"Give it to her, bro, give it to her!" Nikki pushed the phone towards Olivia.

Olivia grabbed it and left the room.

"Who is Tom?"

"When we were out shopping the other day, this guy kept popping up wherever we were. Kind of creepy, but he said ma made him nervous. He knows her from work and has the hots for her. Apparently, the feeling is mutual." She smiled.

"Did he seem like he was good enough for her?"

"Well, I only said like two words to him, but he's cute. And she likes him. It's about time she finds someone for her." Nikki noticed the worried look on his face. "How about this? We'll question him together when he comes to pick her up for their date, deal?"

"How do you know that's going to happen?" Dante was confused.

"Ha! Did you see how she jumped up for the phone? Oh there's going to be a date."

_**Six months later**_

Nikki roamed the building trying to find the room that her art class was to be held in.

_Jeez, Nikki. You'd think you'd know this building already. This is your second semester. You probably can't find it because you don't want to take the class. I mean seriously, what the hell does art history have to do with forensics?_

She turned the corner.

_FINALLY! Only fifteen minutes late. This is going to be fun._

She found the first available seat and sat down. The professor was still taking attendance so it wasn't that bad.

"Did you have trouble finding this room, too?" a voice to her right asked.

She looked up to see a handsome face smiling at her. He looked to be older than her, but then, everybody here was.

"Yes, I did. I really should know this building like the back of my hand by now." She laughed nervously.

"Really? Well, maybe you sitting next to me was fate because I need some help navigating this place."

He smiled at her again.

"I'm sorry, I'm being rude." He stuck his hand out. "I'm Frankie."

She grabbed his hand.

"Nicolette Falconeri?" called the professor.

"That's me." Nikki called out.

"But, I go by Nikki." She said to him.

"Pleasure to meet you, Nikki. Will you be my guide?" he flashed that smile again.

Nikki could feel herself blushing. "Sure."

_**Later that night**_

As Nikki walked up to the door and put her key in, she heard banging coming from inside. She walked in and found her mother talking to herself while cooking. If you call banging pots and pans on the stove cooking.

"Um, what's going on? Are you okay?" Nikki asked.

Olivia jumped. "Nikki! You scared me."

"Sorry. Is something wrong?"

"Oh no. Nothing's wrong. Everything's just peachy." She picked up the glass to her right.

"Okay, now I know you're lying. That's scotch in that glass. You only drink that when you're pissed off or stressed out." Nikki took off her coat and placed it and her bag on the chair. "Spill it. What happened?"

Olivia didn't answer right away. She walked over to the cutting board, picked up the knife and started hacking away at the pepper that lay there.

"Whoa!" Nikki grabbed Olivia's hand and tried to hold back her laughter because it was obvious her mother was pissed. She assumed it had to do with Tom. "Why don't I do this and you can tell me what's bothering you."

Olivia walked over to the table and sat down.

Nikki chopped as she waited for her to speak.

Olivia sighed. "Why are people so freakin' stupid?" she asked.

Nikki stopped chopping and looked over at her.

Olivia looked up.

They both burst into laughter.

"What did Tommy boy do now?" Nikki asked.

"He told me that he loved me."

Nikki dropped the knife. "WHAT?"

"Wait. There's more. That was two nights ago. I decided to pop up at his job today and well, let's just say he was a bit preoccupied with his new client."

"Ugh. Asshole. Dante's going to kick his ass."

"Things were going so good. He had to screw it all up by first, telling me he loves me and then by cheating on me. Ugh!" Olivia finished off the scotch in her glass and poured more.

Nikki walked over and sat next to her. "Give me that." She grabbed the bottle out of her hand."He's totally not worth it. What happened when you went to his job?"

"He was in his office with her when I walked in and caught them in a compromising position. He tried to explain himself and I simply told him his excuses weren't necessary. I also told him it was nice to see just how much he did love me and that I was very happy that I didn't love him."

"Wow. That's all? You didn't punch him or anything? Boo!" Nikki joked trying to lift her mother's mood.

"Hell no! I just had a manicure. However, he may or may not need some work done on his car that grandpa will be refusing to do for him." She smiled and sipped her scotch.

Nikki laughed. "I knew he wouldn't get off easy. I'm sorry ma. What's that corny saying? '_One day when you least expect it, you'll find your soul mate_'? Or some crap like that."

Olivia laughed. "Shut up. Enough about me. I don't want to think about this anymore. How were your new classes today?"

"Well, would this be a bad time to tell you that I met a pretty interesting and kind of cute guy today in my art class?"

"The art class you were so upset about having to take in the first place?" Olivia teased.

"Yes, smarty. That one."

"So, tell me about him." Olivia tried to hide it. But, this alarmed her for many reasons. Guess it was normal given Nikki's situation.

"Honestly? He's kind of weird. But an interesting weird. He's very polite. I told him I dance and he wants to come watch a class. I don't know how I feel about that, though."

"Wait. Rewind. Weird? How?"

"His taste in art. He likes some graphic weird stuff. But, in his defense, maybe it's weird to me because I have no freakin clue what he's talking about. He asked me out to dinner." She said.

"Already? Well, prepare for all of the men in your family and me to chaperone and I'm not even kidding."

"Oh ma. Stop being silly. Oh, by the way, I have to visit art museums for this class and guess who's going with me?"

"Your new friend?"

"Ma!"

Olivia laughed. "Oh alright, I'll go with you. What's this guy's name?" she asked

"Frankie."

"Frankie what?"

"That was another weird thing; he never told me his last name."

Olivia didn't like the sound of any of this and decided she would keep a close eye on the situation.

What the women didn't know was that Frankie would change their lives completely. Whether it would be for better or for worse would depend on how they chose to look at it.


	7. Absence makes the heart grow fonder

_**Two years have passed.**_

Nikki's scream pierced through the night and jolted Olivia and Dante awake. They both ran to her bedroom. Olivia ran to her and grabbed her to try to calm her down. This was the third time this week that this had happened.

"Shhh, its ok, baby, I'm right here. Calm down. Stop crying." Nikki was shaking in her arms. "Look at me. Look at me." She demanded.

Nikki looked up at her with immense fear in her eyes.

"It's ok. You're here with me and Dante. Nobody is gonna hurt you. Ok?" Nikki had stopped shaking and nodded.

"Why isn't she in bed with you? I thought we agreed that was best right now?" Dante asked.

"Honey, I honestly do not know how she ended up in here or when."

"I got up to use the bathroom and get some water. I was half asleep so I guess I came in here by mistake." Nikki told them.

"Come on; let's get you back in ma's bed." He moved to help her up.

"I have to pee." She whined.

"Alright then we'll stop at the bathroom on the way, come on." He said.

While they waited for her to come out of the bathroom, Dante voiced his concern.

"Ma, she can't keep going like this. It's not good for her or any of us. There has to be some sort of alternative to the pill she was taking that's safe for her to take now."

"Honey, I have gone over this repeatedly with her doctors. Night terrors are not that easy to control and this crap she just went through with Frankie brought them flooding back."

"I know that, ma. But the pills they put her on after her rape helped, why can't they put her back on them now?" he whispered.

Before Olivia could answer him, the bathroom door opened and Nikki came out.

"I don't feel too good." She said as she walked over to Olivia.

"Aww, I'm sure you don't baby. Come on; let's go try to get some sleep. Hopefully, you'll wake up better in the morning." She led her to her bedroom.

"No, I won't. That's when I feel the worst. How long is this supposed to last?" Nikki pouted.

"It depends. Everybody is different."

They lay down on the bed. Olivia on her side and Nikki on her back.

"You wanna tell me about it?" asked Olivia.

Nikki hesitated. "It was like it was happening all over again. I could feel them touching me, breathing on me. I heard the horrible things they were saying. I heard the gunshots."

"I'm sorry, baby. I wish I could take that all away from you."

"All I kept seeing throughout the nightmare were those blue eyes. I really wish I knew who they belonged to." She sighed. "I still can't believe that Frankie did this, ma."

"Neither can I. As crazy as it sounds, in his own psychotic way, he loves you with all of his heart. He just decided to show you in all of the wrong ways. Well, except one." She smiled and kissed Nikki on her forehead. "Try to get some sleep."

Nikki let the steady rhythm of her mother's breathing calm her nerves as she lay wide awake letting the recent events flood through her mind.

_After a year of dating, Nikki had finally decided that she was ready to let Frankie make love to her. The first time they tried, she freaked out. Naturally, he was confused. Nikki had recounted the horrible rape for him and he apologized for scaring her. After many failed attempts over the next few months, they finally made love. When Nikki woke up the next morning, he was gone. He left her a note:_

_**I don't know when, but I'll be back. I promise. Someone has to pay.**_

_She was confused, but carried on with her life as if nothing had changed. But, then…it did. A couple of months later, after two weeks of battling what she thought was the flu, Olivia finally dragged her to the doctor where they found out that Nikki did not have the flu, she was pregnant. _

"_What?" they asked in unison._

"_I am as shocked as you are ladies, but it seems we are witnessing a little miracle." Dr. Roberts replied._

_One day, a few weeks later, Nikki, Dante & Olivia were returning home from having dinner at Vito's house and found Frankie waiting outside in his car for them._

"_Hey baby, I told you I would be back." He said to Nikki as he got out of the car._

_Something was very different about him. He looked like hell, like he hadn't slept since the last time she saw him. There was a very weird look in his eyes that made Nikki keep a safe distance between them. She wasn't showing yet, at all, but she wasn't sure this was the time to tell him, either._

"_I even brought you back a very special gift." He made his way to the trunk of the car._

_Dante and Olivia grew alarmed when they saw he was struggling to remove whatever it was from the trunk. When he came around the corner he was pulling someone behind him, which made Dante draw his gun._

"_What are you doing, man? What's going on?" asked Dante._

"_Wait, wait, before you all start going crazy, I think you might like what I have." He looked at Nikki and flashed her a wicked smile. He pulled the person around and pushed them down to their knees in front of the three of them. _

_The sight of Manny Ruiz beaten to a pulp on his knees in front of her caused Nikki to freeze in shock. The memories came flooding back and she tried to scream, to run, anything…but couldn't._

"_Holy shit." Muttered Dante._

_Olivia could feel Nikki shaking next to her and grabbed her hand._

"_I told you someone was going to pay for hurting you, baby. Imagine my surprise when I happened upon the top dog." He pulled a gun from his coat pocket. _

"_Oh my God!" Olivia moved back and pushed Nikki behind her._

"_Whoa! Come on, man. Put that thing down. Don't do anything stupid." Said Dante._

_Frankie lined the barrel of the gun up with the back of Manny's bald head. _

"_Say it." He said quietly. "Apologize for destroying her life. SAY IT!" he yelled._

_He was beaten to the point where he couldn't talk so Manny just stared at Nikki and she started to gasp for air. _

"_Frankie, come on. Drop the gun, man. It's not worth it. He's not worth it." Dante pleaded._

_He looked up at him. "But your sister is." He pulled the trigger._

_Olivia screamed and Dante shot Frankie in his arm to disarm him._

She looked over to see her mother sleeping peacefully.

Here she was, five months pregnant, from a psycho who was now in prison, with a baby she was never supposed to be able to have.

She placed her hand on her little bump. Crazy how the world works.

_**The next morning**_

Dante knocked on the door before opening it and walking in.

Olivia looked over at him with sleepy eyes, "Is everything ok?" she asked, slightly alarmed.

"Yea, ma. I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure everything was ok before I left for work." He whispered.

"Everything is fine. Your crazy sister isn't having another episode, but she is hungry." Nikki picked up her head and smiled at Dante.

He laughed. "You're not crazy. Stop saying that. Want me to make you something to eat before I leave?" he offered.

"Aww, that's sweet of you, honey. But, I don't want you to be late for work. I'll make her something. Did you eat?"

"I'll get something on the way. I'm working a double, so I won't see you guys til tomorrow." He kissed them both on their forehead and left.

"Have a good day at work, bro." Nikki called after him.

"And be safe!" yelled Olivia.

"I always am, ma!" he yelled back.

Nikki gasped. "What the hell?"

Olivia looked over. "What happened?"

"I think the baby just kicked. Or something happened. But that wasn't normal." She put her hand on her belly and waited, but it didn't happen again. "Oh sure. Make me look stupid. Starting early, huh?"

"It's ok. This is about the time when the baby starts-"

"There! It did it again!" Nikki grabbed Olivia's hand and placed it on her belly where she felt the kick.

They sat in silence and waited. Nothing.

"Why do you insist on making mommy look crazy? She does a good job on her own, you know." Nikki said to her belly.

"Oh, Nikki, stop calling yourself crazy. You are not in any way…Oh my God! I felt it! There it goes again." Olivia exclaimed when she felt the baby kick repeatedly at her hand.

"It's your voice! It only kicks when you're talking. What kind of crap is that?"

Olivia laughed and the baby kicked again. "When is your next sonogram, again? I can't wait to see the little thing that's kicking away in there. And you should find out if it's a boy or a girl so that you can stop calling the baby, 'it'."

"Oh, but that's what I was gonna name the baby, 'It'." She tried to be serious.

"Over my dead body."

….

At her next sonogram a few weeks later, they found out Nikki was having a girl.

"Aw man! Another girl in the house? Great, just great." Complained Dante, when they told him later that day.

"Think about how cute it's going to be to have this little person following you around the house saying 'Uncle Dante'. She's going to love her uncle." Said Olivia through her laughter.

"I bet she's gonna be a pain in the ass like her mother."

"Hey!" Nikki acted like she was offended.

"After growing up with all of those boys, I'm just happy to have another girl in the family. I'm seriously so excited." Said Olivia

"I was looking forward to teaching my nephew how to fight or play stickball. Now? I'm gonna have to endure the cycle of dance recitals…again." Dante put his head down on the table.

"Oh stop being so dramatic!" Olivia pushed his head.

"Now how chauvinistic was that comment you little punk? You can still teach her all of that!"

"Oh sure, let me take my little niece out to play stickball in her tutu! And teach her how to fight? Are you stupid? Nobody is gonna touch her. I'll kill them."

"Oh she's going to learn how to defend herself, you can bet your life on that one." Said Olivia.

"In her little tutu, right ma?" Nikki stuck her tongue out at Dante.

Olivia laughed. "That's right baby, in her little pink tutu."

….

Nikki had a few weeks left before her due date and wanted nothing more than to not be pregnant anymore. She lay on the sofa after they had returned home from her latest sonogram. Olivia called her mother to give her the full report. She was walking around the house as she talked on the phone. This is the time during her pregnancy where they say she should be in "nesting mode". Nikki swore it skipped her and went straight to her mother.

Olivia walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen.

"Yes, ma. Everything is fine. Baby is the right size and weight. She has ten fingers and ten toes. All organs are where they are supposed to be and in working order."

She came into the living room where Nikki was.

"She's right here on the sofa. She's miserable and tired. I know, I told her the same thing."

"Ugh! Ma! Can you please stop talking or go to another room so she can't hear you?" Nikki complained.

"Excuse me?"

Nikki pointed to her belly. "Every time she hears you, she moves and kicks. It's annoying and uncomfortable."

"Ma, I'll call you back." Olivia hung up the phone and placed her hand on Nikki's belly. "What's the matter my little princess? You want to come out already, don't you?" She smiled when she felt the kicks.

"Oh my God, ma. Are you serious? I asked you to stop, not talk directly to her." Nikki sighed and closed her eyes.

"Uh-oh, mommy wants Nona to shut up, but I can't help it, I'm too excited."

Dante came in and slammed the door behind him.

"Whoa! What's wrong with you?" Olivia asked.

"I've been assigned to a stupid special assignment and have to do a stakeout, starting tonight."

"So? What's the big deal?" asked Nikki.

"The big deal is that it could take weeks. What if I miss the birth of my niece?"

"Oh. Well, I see how that would upset you, honey. But, stay positive. Hopefully it won't take that long." Said Olivia.

"Sorry, bro. I will not stop this little brat from coming out when she tries. Let's just hope it all turns out ok and plays in your favor."

_**Two weeks later…**_

Nikki walked into the kitchen, where Olivia was busy making them breakfast.

"Morning, ma." She said as she kissed her cheek.

"Good morning, baby. How are you feeling today?"

"Fat." Olivia gave her a look. "What? It's true." She poured herself some apple juice. "Want some, ma?"

"No thanks, baby. I have my coffee."

"What are you making?" she asked as she drank her juice.

"Veggie omel-" she stopped when she heard Nikki spill her juice and immediately turned around. "Honey, are you…" Nikki didn't spill her juice. Instead, she was standing there, looking at the wet floor around her, confused. "Holy shit."

"What just happened?" Nikki asked.

"Um, well…sweetie. We need to get you to the hospital." She replied. She turned off the stove, tossed the food in the garbage and turned her attention back to Nikki, who still hadn't moved.

"Why do we have to go to the hospital?" she asked.

"Your water just broke. Come on, let's get you ready."

"But, doesn't that mean I'm in labor? Shouldn't I be having contractions? I don't feel anything." She said as they walked to her bedroom.

"Oh…you will." She said as she helped her get ready.

As she helped her into the car, Nikki was hit with her first contraction and screamed out in pain. "Oh my God! What the hell was that?" she said through her tears.

"Just remember to breathe, baby. We'll be there soon. Nona and pop are meeting us there with Vito and I left a message for Dante. It's going to be ok." She said grabbing her hand as she continued to drive.

When she pulled up to the hospital, Vito was there to help her.

"You here alone?" Olivia asked.

"I just got here. They might be inside, I don't know." He opened Nikki's car door. "Hey there, kiddo. Come on; let's get you inside before you pop that little princess out on the curb." He joked as he helped her out of the car.

When they walked through the hospital doors, she got another contraction. She screamed out in pain and reached for Olivia. Her parents were already there and rushed over to them, followed by a nurse with a wheelchair.

"How far apart are her contractions?" the nurse asked Olivia.

"Six minutes." She answered. "Sit down, baby." She guided Nikki to the wheelchair.

When she was settled in her room and awaiting the doctor, Nikki continued to cry. Olivia put her arms around her. "Its ok, sweetie. I'm right here. Everything is going to be fine and in no time, your little bundle of joy will be here screaming her head off."

"But, it hurts so much. Why aren't they giving me anything for the pain?" she asked.

Olivia knew why they weren't. Her contractions were too close together. But there was no way she was going to tell her that. "They're waiting for the doctor. He'll be here soon."

"What about Dante? Did he call you? He's gonna be so mad if he doesn't make it in time, ma." She sobbed.

Before Olivia could answer, the doctor came in to examine her.

"Well, looks like your little one is in a rush. Get ready to start pushing, Nikki. I'll be right back."

Nikki looked at Olivia with a look of sheer horror before doubling over in pain from another contraction. Seeing her in so much pain brought tears to her eyes, but she refused to let them fall because she knew it would only cause Nikki to panic. She just held her hand and rubbed her back.

_**Fifteen minutes later…**_

"Alright Nikki, give me nice big push."

As she did as she was told, the door opened and Dante ran in. "I'm here, I'm here!" he shouted.

"There's her head."

Dante stopped dead in his tracks. "Holy shit." He said, wearing a look of disgust.

"Dante!"

He shook his head. "Sorry, ma, sorry." He rushed to Nikki's side. "Hey sis. How you holding up?" he asked before kissing her head.

Nikki just shook her head in response and cried.

"Come on, Nikki. Another big push." The doctor said.

Nikki pushed and screamed out in pain. Dante's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He didn't know what to do; he just wanted to take the pain away from his sister. "Its hurting her too much, isn't there another way to do this?" he asked.

"Dante, shut up." Said Olivia.

"But, ma, she's in a lot of pain."

"I know that, just…shut it!" she warned him.

"You're doing great, Nikki. One more push should do it. Just give it all you've got, sweetheart."

She shook her head. "I can't. I can't do it. It hurts too much. Can't you just pull her out or something?"

Olivia stifled her laughter. "No, honey. They can't pull her out. You can do this. Just take a deep breath, squeeze our hands as hard as you need to and push with everything you've got."

"Come on, Nik. You got this." Dante said.

She looked at them through her tears and nodded her head. She took a deep breath and pushed. Her screams of pain were soon joined by the cries of her daughter as she entered the world.

"Hey, look at that. She's louder than you. We're doomed." Dante joked.

"Oh my God, she's so beautiful." Said Olivia, finally letting her tears fall.

Dante cut her umbilical cord and when they had her all cleaned up and checked out, they handed her over to Olivia.

She smiled through her tears. "Hi there, little mama. I'm your Nona. The one that's been talking to you all this time while you drive your mommy crazy. But, I couldn't help it. I was so excited for you to come." She walked over to Nikki. "This…" She said as she put her in Nikki's arms. "…is your Mommy."

Nikki ran her finger across her daughter's cheek. "So, you're the one that's been having the big party inside of me for the last 9 months, huh?" As the tears fell from her eyes, she kissed her head. She looked at Olivia. "Now, I get it. I understand what you meant when you said your life completely changed in a split second."

"She looks just like you." Said Dante. "Poor kid." He joked.

"Hey!" said Nikki, defensively.

Laughing, Dante put his hands out. "Can I hold her?" Nikki handed her over, making sure he was holding her properly. "So, are you finally going to tell ma her name?"

Olivia looked confused. "I thought you couldn't decide on a name."

"That was a lie. I knew all along what her name was going to be." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Ma, if it wasn't for you, I don't think I'd be alive today. I most certainly wouldn't be the person I am, if I didn't have you in my life. It's impossible for me to verbally express to you how thankful I am that you made the decision you made all of those years ago, when you were just a kid, yourself. So, to honor you and to try and give you an idea of what you, and my daughter, are in my eyes…" She looked over at Dante holding her, smiled and turned back to Olivia who had started crying again. "Her name is: Angel Olivia Falconeri."

Olivia was at a loss for words, which was fitting at the moment since her sobs made it difficult to speak anyway. She leaned over to hug and kiss her, finally managing to simply whisper, "Thank you."

_**One year later…**_

They had decided to cut a cake on Angel's actual first birthday before the big party that weekend. Just the four of them without the rest of the family. They had just finished singing to her when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Said Dante.

"Nona, Nona, Nona!" Angel repeated while reaching for Olivia.

"What's the matter baby?" She said as she took her from Nikki.

"Ugh. Nothing is the matter with her. She just always wants her Nona! Who had you, huh? Me."

Olivia giggled. "Tell mommy to stop being a jealous brat." She whispered to her.

Dante entered the kitchen, followed by Ronnie. The look on their faces alarmed Nikki and Olivia.

"What's wrong?" asked Olivia.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your celebration, Ms. Falconeri. But we have a big problem." Said Ronnie.

"What kind of problem, Ronnie?" asked Nikki.

"Frankie somehow escaped from prison today." Dante blurted out.

"What?" they asked in unison.

"And because of the threat he poses to you and your daughter, we have to get you somewhere safe until we have him in custody again." Ronnie continued.

"Without me and ma." Dante whispered.

Olivia's heart sank. As much as she wanted to fight them on this, the safety of Nikki and Angel took precedence over her selfish need to have them with her at all times.

"When do they have to leave?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Now." Ronnie answered.

"Wait, what? Ma, I'm not leaving you. No, there's no way." Nikki said, starting to panic.

Olivia bent down and put Angel on the floor. "Why don't you go play in the new dollhouse Nona bought you, baby?" She watched her run to her play area, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.

Nikki was on the verge of tears. "Ma, you can't be serious in agreeing with this."

Olivia took her face in her hands in an effort to calm her. "Honey, I know this is a lot to stomach right now. It kills me to think about a day without you two, but this is for your safety and that's more important. We'll talk every day, as many times as you want."

Ronnie cleared his throat. "Actually, that's not going to be possible."

"What do you mean?" asked Olivia.

Dante stood beside Ronnie with his arms crossed, silently fighting his own tears.

"Dante? What's going on?" she asked him.

He looked at his mother and then at Nikki. "We're not going to be allowed to have any contact at all."

Olivia felt as if someone had punched her in her stomach. She didn't know what to say.

"I'm so sorry. But, this is the only way to keep you all safe. I promise you that I will personally keep an eye on them and bring them home to you as soon as it's safe." Ronnie assured them.

"You better." Dante said quietly.

Nikki looked at her with tears in her eyes.

"We should get you guys ready." She whispered.

"I don't mean to be a pest, but we need to move fast." Urged Ronnie.

"Come on, Nik. I'll help you get your stuff together."

"I'll wait outside." Ronnie said.

"Angel, come here baby. Nona needs to talk to you."

Olivia smiled as she watched her run to her. She picked her up and hugged her tightly.

"You and mommy are going to take a little trip." She struggled with her words as she continued to suppress her tears.

"Nona, too? And nucle?" she asked.

Olivia laughed at how she could never say 'uncle'. "No, baby. Nona and Uncle Dante have to stay here. But, don't worry. You'll be home very fast, ok?" Angel nodded her head. "You need to be a good girl for mommy, ok?" she nodded again. Olivia pointed to the locket around Angel's neck. "Remember what Nona put in there?"

"Nona huggies kissies!" she happily exclaimed.

Olivia laughed. "That's right. So, no matter what, Nona will always be right there with you." She kissed her repeatedly and hugged her tightly again.

In Nikki's bedroom, she and Dante were quickly packing in silence until she abruptly stopped.

"Is that everything?" he asked.

"You have to watch her, Dante. No matter how much she may tell you she's ok, she's lying. She sleeps with Angel. The only time she's not with her is when she goes to work. She is not going to be ok." He simply nodded. "Neither am I." she said as she hugged him.

He hugged her as tight as he could, afraid to let go. "Neither am I." he echoed.

Olivia interrupted. "Do you have her elephant?" she asked.

"Yep. And I took one of your shirts for her to sleep with." Answered Nikki. She looked around. "I think that's everything." Dante grabbed the bags and they started to leave the room. "Oh wait!" she grabbed the framed picture of the four of them off of her nightstand. "Now, I have everything."

As Ronnie put their bags in the car, Dante put Angel in the car seat and Olivia said goodbye to Nikki.

"Don't you dare let this get you depressed. This is just a temporary situation. Before you know it, you'll be home. And remember to eat, if you come back to me any skinnier, I'll kick your ass." She joked, trying to keep both of their tears from falling.

Nikki smiled and hugged her, not wanting to let go. "Only way I agree to any of that is if you promise me the same." She told her. "I swear, I give it a few days and then I'm coming home."

Olivia pulled away. "You will do no such thing, Nicolette! These men know what they are doing, do not test Frankie."

With that, Nikki got into the car next to Angel and Ronnie in the driver's seat. Olivia blew kisses to them and waved as the car pulled off. She and Dante went back into the house and she walked straight to her bedroom, while he went to clean up the kitchen.

She walked into her bedroom and stopped dead in her tracks. Every single thing in there reminded her of Angel. She slowly walked over to her bed and sat down, picking her little pink blankie up and smelling it. It was at that point that she could no longer hold back her tears and Dante walked in, just in time to put his arms around his sobbing mother as he gave in to his own tears.

"Its not forever, ma. It can't be." He assured her as she continued to cry.


	8. Bittersweet Reunion

_Bear in mind that this story is a great amount of AU. I've kept some plots the same, but changed a lot of the details around. Everyone in Port Charles knows that Olivia has 2 kids and a grandchild and those close to her and Dante know why Nikki and Angel haven't been around._

_That's all I'll tell you. The rest…well…you'll find out along the way! ENJOY!_

_**Nearly two years have passed…**_

Nikki was cleaning off Angel's high chair when there was a knock at her door.

Angel gasped. "Nona?"

Nikki sighed. "No, baby. It's not Nona." She said to her as she opened the door.

Ronnie rushed in and quickly closed it behind him.

"What have I told you about opening the door without checking to see who it is, Nik?"

"Dude, you told me you would be here today at 1." She looked at her watch. "Its 1. You're nothing if not punctual. Chill out."

He looked down at Angel. "Hey sweetheart."

"Hi, Nucle Ronnie." She said in a low, sad voice.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought you were my Nona." She said quietly, as she twirled her locket in her hand.

"Oh. I see." He sat down on the sofa next to her. "Then I understand your frownie face. Wish I could make you feel better, kiddo."

"You can. You just won't listen to my mommy!" she said before storming off to her bedroom.

Ronnie watched her go. "Yep. That's your kid. Hard to believe she's not even 3."

Nikki sighed. "How are my mother and Dante? Are they still in Port Charles?"

He hesitated. "Yeah, they're still there."

She looked at him. "She's not with him, is she? You promised me, Ron."

"No. She's not with Sonny." He ran his hand through his hair. "I don't think you need to worry about that, Nik."

She noticed he wasn't looking her in the eye and that he was fidgety. "What aren't you telling me, Ronnie?"

He knew he should have cancelled coming here today. There was no way he could hide this from her. He didn't even want to. He took a deep breath and looked at her.

"I didn't want to say anything, because I know you're gonna flip out, right now. But, you deserve to know. Dante was shot." He said

Nikki felt as if the floor gave out from under her. She leaned against the chair for support.

"He...he...shot? Dante?" He nodded. "Oh my God. Is he…?" she was almost afraid to ask.

"He's in the hospital waiting for surgery."

"Oh my God." She repeated. "My mother! She must be going nuts." She got up and looked around. "You're taking me to them. Now."

"What? No, Nik, relax. I'm not taking you anywhere."

"Yes you will!" Tears started to fall from her eyes. "Ronnie, you owe me. You owe us."

He knew she was right. For almost two years they searched for Frankie and failed. For almost two years he had to keep the closest family he had ever encountered, separated. Every time he saw one of them, he saw the pain he caused. He wouldn't fight her. He couldn't.

When he didn't continue to fight her, she knew he was giving in.

"Angel! Come here!" she called out to her daughter, not taking her eyes off of him.

"Yes, mommy?"

She turned to her. "I need you to be my big, brave girl right now, ok?" she nodded. "Go to your room and grab what you will miss most if we never come back. Don't worry about anything else, I can replace it. Ok?"

"Where are we going, mommy?"

"Somewhere very important, so I need you to hurry. Go, baby!"

Angel obeyed her mother and ran to her room. Nikki opened the hall closet and pulled out a suitcase.

"What's that?"

She shrugged. "As many times as you've had to move us, I learned to be prepared."

He grabbed the suitcase and went to put it in the car.

Angel ran back holding her elephant and Olivia's shirt. She still slept with it after all this time. She called it her "Nona blankie".

"I'm ready, mommy."

"Ok, honey. Come put your coat on."

Ronnie came back in.

"She's ready. I'll be right out." She said as she pushed Angel toward him.

Angel reached up for him to pick her up.

"Ready to go?" he asked her.

She held up her elephant and "Nona blankie". "I am!"

He moved toward the door.

"Oh no! Wait. Put me down. Put me down! I forgot something."

She ran back toward their bedrooms and ran back with the framed picture of the four of them in her hand.

Nikki smiled. "Almost forgot that, huh?"

"Yes. That would have been very bad."

She finished gathering up their things and looked at Ronnie.

"I don't care how you do it or what you have to do to make it happen, but get us there as fast as humanly possible." She ordered him.

…

Olivia leaned over to kiss Dante before they took him away to surgery.

"Stay strong, baby. I love you." She said through her tears.

Patrick cleared his throat and Olivia reluctantly backed away from the bed.

"I promise to update you as often as I possibly can." He told her.

She simply nodded and watched them wheel him away. She took a deep breath, wiped her tears and walked toward the waiting area. She turned the corner at the same moment the elevator doors opened. Nikki ran out and directly into her.

"Yo! Watch where you're going." She said, annoyed.

"What the hell?" said Nikki, equally annoyed.

They both stopped.

"Ma?"

"Nikki?" she instantly started to cry again. "Oh my God, baby! Come here!" she said as she pulled her into a hug.

Nikki held onto her tightly as tears fell from her own eyes. It felt so good to be in her arms. "How's Dante?"

"They just took him to surgery."

"Dammit."

"Its ok, baby. He's in good hands." She hugged her again. "I can't believe you're here."

She put her arm around her and led her to the waiting area.

"Ma, how are you? How did this happen?"

She took a deep breath before answering.

"Your brother was working undercover to try and bring Sonny down for all of his crimes. Sonny found out…and here we are."

"Sonny? That bastard is responsible for this?"

She nodded. "You know. There's something I've never told you."

Nikki looked at her mother, sympathetically. "I know he's Dante's father."

Olivia was shocked. "How did you know that? Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I'm not stupid, ma. He was the only one who able to donate what I needed all of those years ago when I was sick, right? Besides, he is irrelevant. No point in talking about it."

They were silent for a moment.

"How is my Angel? Wait…where is she?" Olivia asked, changing the subject.

"Ronnie didn't think it was a good idea for her to come up. So, he took her to get something to eat. Though, I guarantee it's a waste of his time. She's not going to eat."

Olivia smiled. "God, I've missed you guys."

"She still doesn't sleep through the night. She keeps waking up to look for you."

"Nona? NONA!" Angel was running to Olivia.

Olivia gasped. "My baby!" She picked her up in a big hug and planted kisses on her checks. "You got so big." She looked at Nikki with new tears in her eyes. "This is you at her age. Spitting image."

Ronnie shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, Nik. She started freaking out."

Angel held Olivia tightly. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, baby." She said through her tears.

She pulled back and looked at Olivia. "Why are you crying, Nona? Don't cry." She said wiping her tears.

Olivia smiled at the memory of Nikki at Angel's age doing the same exact thing. She kissed her and hugged her tightly. "Don't worry, baby. These tears are happy tears."

Sonny walked off of the elevator and made his way over to them.

"Olivia. Any word on Dante?"

She ignored him.

"Who's that?" Angel whispered to her.

"Nobody."

"Olivia, I'm talking to you. Can you answer me?"

Nikki slowly walked up to him.

"You don't have any right to ask about Dante and you're not wanted here. If you know what's good for you, you'll get back on that elevator and leave."

Sonny smirked. "Who the hell…?" he fell silent as recognition set in. "Nikki?"

She didn't know where the energy came from, but all of the rage inside of her, fueled by her hate for the man standing in front of her, caused Nikki to punch Sonny so hard that he lost his balance. He would have fell to the floor if not for Max catching him in time.

"Oh shit." Muttered Olivia.

Angel gasped. "Ooohhh…Nona, you said a bad word."

"Oops, sorry."

"That's for shooting my brother, you bastard! And this…"

"Whoa, whoa there, kiddo. Relax." Ronnie was in between her and Sonny now.

Lucky and Lulu stepped off of the elevator as Nikki pushed Ronnie out of the way to go after Sonny again.

"What the hell?" Lucky ran to help Ronnie. "What's going on here?" he asked.

"Who the hell are you?" Nikki asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." He looked to Ronnie for an answer.

"This is Dante's sister, Nikki." He looked at Nikki. "This is Detective Lucky Spencer."

"Then why are you stopping her? Let her kill him." Lulu said.

Before Nikki could address Lulu, Epiphany interrupted them.

"Excuse me." She looked straight at Olivia. "Ms. Falconeri, Dr. Drake just called from the OR. He just wants you to know that they are starting right now and will call soon with another update."

"Thank you, Epiphany."

"Thank you, Epiphany." Repeated Sonny.

"I wasn't talking to you, Mr. Corinthos." She said as she walked away.

"Nona…" Angel whispered again. "Who are all these people? And wheres Nucle Dante?"

Olivia sighed and fought back a new onslaught of tears.

"Did you say Nucle?" Lulu asked.

Nikki eyed her and turned to Olivia. "Who the hell is this?"

Lulu answered before Olivia could.

"I'm sorry." She stuck her hand out. "I'm Lulu Spencer, Dante's girlfriend."

"Oh." She said as she shook her hand. She looked from her to Lucky. "So, you two are…?"

"Brother and sister." He answered. He stuck out his hand. "Sorry we're meeting under these circumstances."

"That means this is Angel, right?" Lulu asked, walking towards her and Olivia.

"How do you know my name?" Angel asked, defensively.

"Well, your uncle talks about you all the time and when you said Nucle, I knew it was you."

Sonny stood to the side watching them.

Olivia sat down and moved to put Angel on the chair beside her, but she shook her head and held tightly to her.

"Oh, ok baby. Sit on my lap."

Ronnie's phone rang and he walked away to answer it.

"Can I get anybody anything to drink or eat? Maybe some coffee?" Lucky offered.

"Coffee would be great, thank you." Said Nikki.

"Thank you, Lucky. I'll take some, too."

Angel looked from her mother to her grandmother and then back to Lucky. "Me too, Mr. Lucky. Thank you."

They all laughed at her.

"Um, I don't think you can have coffee, sweetheart. Unless, mommy…?" he looked at Nikki.

"Oh God, no. She'll have an apple juice."

He left to get the drinks for them.

"Dante is going to be so excited to see the both of you." Lulu told them.

"Where is he? Are we waiting for him, Nona?" she looked up at Olivia.

Olivia looked at her. "Uncle Dante got hurt, baby. The doctors are making him better."

"Oh." She looked at Nikki. "Did that man do it, mommy? Is that why you hit him?"

"Don't worry about that."

They fell silent. During this silence, Angel slid off of Olivia's lap and walked over to Sonny. She looked up at him, kicked him in his shin and ran back to Olivia.

"Ow...what the..?" Sonny said, wincing in pain.

Before they could say anything to her, Johnny came rushing off of the elevator.

"Olivia, I came as soon as I heard. How is he?" he stopped when he saw Angel in her lap. He smiled when he realized who it was. "Is this your Angel?"

"Hey, how do you know my name, too?" she turned to Olivia. "Nona, I think we should go home."

She laughed at her. "Its ok, sweetie."

Nikki sighed. "Dare I ask who you are?"

"He's your mothers' boy toy." Sonny blurted out.

"Oh, Sonny, shut the hell up!" yelled Olivia.

Nikki looked at her mother with wide eyes.

She sighed. "Nikki, this is John Zacharra, my boyfriend."

"Hi, how are you?" he closed his eyes. "That was a stupid question, I'm sorry."

Sonny snorted. "Boyfriend my ass."

"Seriously? Why the hell are you still here?" Nikki asked. "Better yet, why isn't your ass in jail?"

Ronnie walked back in.

"Dude. You left out a lot from your updates on my mom and brother." She said gesturing to Lulu and Johnny.

"Oh. Yeah. About that…"

"Ugh. Shut up. Can you do something about that annoying midget over there? Like, get him out of here."

Olivia placed her hand on his arm. "Don't pay him any mind, honey."

Lucky returned with their drinks. "Epiphany asked me to let you know that Patrick called again and so far, so good." He said to Olivia.

She sighed, feeling a little bit relieved. "Thank you."

Johnny sat next to Olivia and kissed her forehead. "How are you holding up?" he said grabbing her hand.

"Hey…gimme that." Angel said grabbing Olivia's hand from his. "My Nona."

He put his hands up. "I know, I know. Sorry." He laughed.

"Angel, be nice." Scolded Nikki.

"But, Mommy. He's a stranger. You told me I'm not supposed to be nice to strangers."

"And Mommy is absolutely right. But, John isn't a stranger, honey. He's Nona's very special friend. So, it's ok." Olivia told her.

"But, he's a stranger to me." Angel eyed Johnny. "Sorry. But, she's still my Nona."

Johnny laughed at her. "I know she is. Maybe we can share?"

Nikki cleared her throat. "You're pushing your luck, dude."

"I guess you're right. I'm gonna go get something to drink, I'll be right back." He kissed Olivia's head and got up.

Nikki sat back in her chair and leaned in closer to Olivia so that no one would hear her. "Dante is dating Skipper and you're dating a younger guy. I'd say we have a lot of catching up to do." She whispered.

"Mommy, who's Skipper?" Angel interrupted.

Olivia laughed loudly. But, before she could answer, Patrick walked in. She quickly stood up and walked over to him with Angel in her arms.

"Is he ok?" she asked.

"Just as I had assumed, he's strong, a fighter. Everything went smoothly." He smiled at Nikki as she walked up beside her.

Olivia let out a sigh of relief and smiled at him. "Thank you so much, Patrick. I owe you."

Angel looked from Olivia to Patrick. "Did you fix my Nucle Dante?" she asked him.

"Ah, that's who this beautiful little angel is. Your grandmother has told me so much about you, Angel."

"Nona! He knows my name, too? I don't like this." She complained.

"I apologize for my daughter; she's not used to being around this many people." Nikki told Patrick.

"No apologies necessary. You must be Nikki." He stuck out his hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the woman your mother is always talking about."

"Thank you very much for saving my brother's life. Can we see him?"

"Oh yes, please Dr…." Angel looked at Olivia and whispered. "What's his name again?"

"Patrick. But, honey, I don't think we can take you in to see Uncle Dante."

"Hold on. That's not entirely true. If I can get you guys past Epiphany…." Patrick said looking towards the nurses' station.

"Oh just take them Dr. Drake." Epiphany said without looking up.

Patrick smiled. "Follow me." Sonny and Lulu tried to follow. "I'm sorry. Just Olivia and Nikki right now."

As they walked to the room, Patrick gave them a full report on the operation and his recovery. "Here's his room. He may not be awake, yet." He opened the door and they walked in. "I'll leave you alone with him and come back in a bit to check on him."

"Thank you, Patrick." Said Olivia.

"Thank you, Dr. Patrick!" yelled Angel from her arms.

He smiled at her. "You're very welcome, sweetheart."

When he left, Nikki approached Dante's bed. "Look at you. You can't do anything without getting hurt somehow. I can't leave you on your own for a minute." She joked before leaning down to kiss him.

"Nucle Dante, wake up. I wanna hug you." Angel whined. "Why isn't he waking up?"

"He has a lot of medicine inside of him to help him sleep. But, keep talking to him baby. He can hear you." Olivia told her.

"Can I give him Snuggles? Maybe it'll make him feel better. It helps me." She held up her stuffed elephant. In fact, the elephant was a gift from Dante when she was born. She never went anywhere without it.

"Ok, baby. Go ahead and put it next to him." Olivia said leaning closer so Angel could do so.

Olivia and Nikki sat on either side of Dante in silence. After some time, Angel started to cry quietly and put her head on Olivia's shoulder.

"Don't cry, baby. He'll be ok." Olivia said soothingly, while rubbing her back.

"Did Dr. Drake say how long he would be out?" asked Nikki.

Olivia shook her head and reached for Dante's hand. Angel placed her hand on top of hers.

"I need you to open those eyes and look at me, baby. Let me know that you're ok."

They continued to sit in silence. The machines beeping around them. Both women holding tightly onto his hands. Afraid to leave him, worried that he would wake up alone.

He stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He looked to his left and saw Nikki. "Nik?" he whispered.

She looked up quickly and smiled. "Hey you."

"Are you really here?" he asked.

"Nucle Dante! You woke up!" Angel exclaimed, excitedly.

He turned his head quickly. A little too quickly and winced from the pain.

"Be careful, honey." Said Olivia.

"Munchkin." He whispered, smiling. "Look at you. You've gotten so big."

She smiled back at him. "Snuggles did help you." She said. "I was so scared."

"You still have Snuggles?"

"Well, you do right now." Olivia pointed next to him.

He looked over and tried to grab it. "Let me get that for you, bro." Nikki said, standing.

"Wow." He laughed when she placed it in his hand.

"Ma, maybe you should get the doctor. That way they can check on him." Nikki suggested.

"Good idea. We'll be right back, baby." She told Dante.

Dante watched them walk out and then looked at Nikki. "She's so beautiful, Nik. I just wanna hold her." He sighed. "I can't believe you guys are here."

"Dude, you're shot. No way in hell I was staying away. But, shut up for a minute. I have to tell you something really important before she gets back."

"I know that look."

"That asshole that shot you? He's your father." She didn't have time to break it to him gently. She put her hand up before he could say anything. "And before you go ballistic, cursing ma and getting mad at her. Think about what she's done for you. Think about our childhood and then think about how different that would have been had she taken a different route all of those years ago."

He looked at her. "So, that's why she was so hell bent on me dropping this case and going back to Bensonhurst?"

"Was she? And you didn't listen? What the hell?"

"I was determined to bring his ass down!"

"Chill out before you set off these machines or something."

He calmed down and let everything sink in. "I can't be mad at her. No way. I just wish she would've told me."

"Well, I've learned never to question her reasoning. She was a wreck, dude. And she hasn't said anything, but I know she must be freaking out over how you will react to this. Angel's been keeping her occupied, though."

He looked at her and smiled. "I missed you, man. Seriously. How long before you have to go?"

Before she could answer, the door opened and Patrick came in followed by Olivia and Angel.

"Well, look who's awake. How are we feeling?"

"Like an elephant is sitting on my chest."

Angel giggled. "That's because there is, Nucle Dante."

Olivia and Nikki joined her in her giggles. Dante looked down and chuckled. During his conversation with Nikki, he had absentmindedly sat Snuggles on his chest.

Patrick examined him and left them alone again.

"I am so happy to see you awake and smiling, baby." Said Olivia.

"Come here, ma." He said, reaching for her.

"Angel, come with me for a minute." Said Nikki, grabbing her from Olivia and leaving the room.

Olivia looked after them, confused. "What's that all about?"

"I think she wanted to give us some privacy." He grabbed her hand. "She told me about Sonny."

She caught her breath, not knowing what to say.

"You are my mother and I love you with all of my heart. Whatever reasons you had for not telling me, I trust you enough to believe it was the right thing to do. I'm not mad at you. I could never be. You did what was right for me. And for Nikki. We are forever indebted to you for that, ma. So, stop worrying. I see it all over your face." He smiled at her and she started crying again.

Nikki poked her head in and Angel walked in. "Is it ok to come back in?"

Olivia smiled and finally found her voice. "Please." She said waving her over. "I'm so happy I have all of you with me again. I feel complete, now."

Angel climbed back into her lap. "I'm sorry I can't hug you Nucle Dante. But, I miss you so much. And your hugs."

"Aww, munchkin. I miss you, too." He said growing tired.

"Uh-oh, somebody's happy juice is kicking in." joked Nikki.

There was a knock at the door and Ronnie came in.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you guys, but..." he looked at Nikki "Its time to go."

"Noooooo!" Cried Angel. "I don't wanna leave! Mommy please?"

Nikki looked at her crying daughter, then to Olivia and Dante before turning back to Ronnie.

She opened her mouth...

"They're not going anywhere."

She spun around to look at Olivia.

"What?" she and Ronnie asked in unison.

Angel stopped crying and looked at Olivia. "Nona? What did you say?"

"I am done worrying about whether they are ok or not. I'm so tired of crying for them all of the time. You and the NYPD failed to do your job. That's not our fault. My family will no longer carry the burden of your failures. They are not leaving, again." She looked at him defiantly.

Ronnie looked at her, shocked. "Olivia, you can't be serious." He looked at Dante. "Will you talk some sense into your mother, man?"

"My mother is the only one making sense right now." He took a deep breath. "Its over, man."

"It is not over. That lunatic is out there still."

"Your problem, not theirs." Said Olivia.

"I'll protect my family. I always have." Dante told him.

Angel was still staring at Olivia. "Uh-oh, Nona is very angry. I think you should leave Nucle Ronnie."

Realizing that he wasn't going to change their minds, Ronnie stormed out of the room.

"Are we really going to stay, Mommy?"

"Yes you are, baby. Nona misses you both way too much." Olivia answered for Nikki.

"This might be the very first time in my life that you will get no argument from me." Nikki said.

"There's a first time for everything." Dante said weakly.

"Oh, honey. Maybe we should leave you alone."

"Ma, go home. Enjoy having them back and get some rest. I'm in good hands." He smiled at her.

Nikki kissed him. "Feel better, bro." she moved out of Olivia's way.

"We'll be back first thing in the morning, I promise." She said after kissing him.

Angel struggled to reach him and Olivia lowered her so she could kiss his cheek.

"Love you, Nucle."

"Love you, too, munchkin."

He was asleep before they even left the room.

"Where is the closest hotel?" asked Nikki as they walked back to the elevators.

"For what?"

"For us to get a room. Duh."

Olivia gave her a look. "You're freaking kidding me right? You're not staying in a hotel. You're staying with me. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Well, I wasn't sure if you had room. You know, with the boyfriend and all." She teased.

Olivia rolled her eyes and smiled. "Shut up. You guys always come first, you know that."

"Nona has a boyfriend." Angel giggled, teasing her.

"You, too?"

They were almost to the elevator when Sonny stepped into their path.

"Oh for Christ's sake!" Nikki exclaimed.

He ignored her and looked at Olivia. "How's Dante?"

"That's none of your business!" Angel said before sticking her tongue out at him.

"Move out of my way, Sonny."

Lulu spoke up behind her. "Johnny said he'll call you later."

She turned around. "Thank you, honey. You should go home, too. Come back with us in the morning, ok? He's asleep."

She nodded her head. "Ok. I'll call you in the morning."

She turned back around and Sonny was still standing in her way. "I'm still waiting, Olivia."

Instead of succumbing to him, she walked over to the nurses' station where Patrick and Epiphany were going over some charts. Elizabeth was also there.

"Yo. Who do I talk to about who can and cannot visit Dante?"

Elizabeth and Patrick both pointed to Epiphany.

"Do I need a pen and paper?" she asked.

"Three names. That's all. Sonny Corinthos, Carly Jacks and Jason Morgan. They are NOT allowed to see him."

"You got it Ms. Falconeri." She turned to Elizabeth. "You hear that, Nurse Webber."

"Loud and clear." She answered.

She turned back to Olivia. "Don't worry about a thing."

"Thank you."

"I'll call if the need arises." Said Patrick. "For now, go home with your girls and get some rest." He smiled at her.

"Thank you again."

"Good night." Said Nikki.

Angel waved as they walked away.

They walked to the elevator and Sonny followed.

"This isn't over, Olivia. He's my son."

They walked onto the elevator and turned around. Olivia ignored him.

Nikki looked at him. "I'd be very careful if I were you. You're dealing with me now." She glared at him as the doors closed.


	9. After all this time

Olivia unlocked her door.

"It's not much and since you two are here now, we'll need to get something bigger. I know who can help with that, too. I'll have to call…what the hell?" she said as she took in the bags of stuff in her living room.

"What's wrong, ma?" Nikki asked, alarmed.

Johnny walked out of the kitchen. "Aw, crap. I was hoping to be done and gone before you came home. I'm sorry."

Olivia was pleasantly surprised. "Honey, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to make sure you guys had something to eat, but didn't want you to worry about cooking. And I think we all know that's the first thing you were going to try to do." He smiled at her. "Also, I knew you didn't have anything kid friendly. So, I got some juice and snacks. I wasn't sure of what she liked, so I got…well…everything. You also didn't have those little cups that I usually see kids her age drinking from, so I got some of those, too." He said pointing to Angel.

"You cook? For my mom?" Nikki asked, shocked…and a bit impressed.

"Yes, I do cook. As for cooking for your mom, she's pretty stubborn, so I don't get to that often." He told her.

"Do you live here Mr. Johnny?" Angel asked him.

He chuckled. "No, I don't live here. Not my choice, though." He eyed Olivia who smiled.

"Ok, that's enough out of you." She laughed. "Honey, you didn't have to do this."

"Yes, I did. Oh and um...I'm not sure what you like to watch Angel, but the person that helped me in the store said that little girls your age are big fans of all of those movies. So, I hope you like at least one of them." He said pointing to a pile of DVDs on Olivia's coffee table.

Angel eyed him suspiciously and without taking her eyes off of him, cautiously walked over to the table. She gasped when she saw the DVD at the very top of the pile. "Little Mermaid! Mommy, look! LOOK!" she yelled, excitedly.

"I see that, mama." She told her. She turned to Johnny. "That's her favorite movie. Thank you for doing all of this."

"Not a problem. You guys have enough to deal with, right now. I wanted to help in any way that I could." He smiled. "Speaking of, let me finish up dinner for you guys so that I can leave you ladies alone to relax and catch up." He said before going back into the kitchen.

Nikki watched him go and then turned to Olivia. "He has a key? This is pretty serious, huh?" she asked her.

Olivia smiled at her. "We'll talk later. I'll be right back." She said as she walked to the kitchen. She walked up behind Johnny and put her arms around him. "I love you."

He turned around. "I love you, too." He said before kissing her.

Angel ran into the kitchen. "Nona, Nona, Nona!" she stopped when she saw them kissing and they quickly stopped. "Hey. What are you doing?" she asked, looking at them.

Johnny turned back to the stove so Angel couldn't see him laughing at her.

"What happened, baby?" Olivia asked her, ignoring her question.

"Have you seen Ariel?" she asked her.

"Who?" Olivia asked, confused.

"I think that's the name of the mermaid." Johnny told her.

"Oh. The Little Mermaid?" she asked her. Angel nodded. "No, baby. I haven't seen it."

"So we should watch it." She told her.

"Angel! What are you supposed to be doing?" Nikki called from the other room.

"Oh." She walked over to Johnny. "Thank you for the movies, Mr. Johnny."

"You're welcome, sweetheart. I'm glad you like them." He smiled down at her.

She tried to see what he was doing on the stove and noticed he was looking at her. She quickly left the kitchen.

He looked at Olivia. "Did I scare her? I didn't mean to."

"No, I don't think you did. She just has to adjust to everything, you know? It's been just her and Nikki, with the occasional visit from Ronnie for almost 2 years. Last time she saw me, there was no you. She'll come around. Besides, how can anybody not love you?" She said, putting her arms around his neck and reaching up to kiss him again. "Let me go get them settled in."

…..

They were coming out of the bedroom when Johnny came out of the kitchen.

"Like I said, it's small. I'll give Jax a call to see if he knows of anything bigger available."

"Ma, relax. It's ok. I'm just happy to be here with you."

Johnny smiled at them. "I'm going to head out. Dinner is ready. I hope you all enjoy it." He said as he walked to the door.

"Wait. You're not going to join us for dinner? You can't just go through all that trouble and not even enjoy it." Nikki said.

"Exactly. Where are you going?" asked Olivia.

"I'm sorry. Originally, I wasn't staying because I didn't want to intrude, but now I…got a phone call and I…have…something to take care of." He avoided Olivia's stare.

Nikki sensed the tension right away. "Oh, well, maybe next time. Thanks again, for everything."

He quickly kissed Olivia and turned to leave.

"Bye, Mr. Johnny!" Angel said, waving from across the room.

"Bye, Angel!" he waved back and left.

Nikki turned to Olivia. "Ok…what was that all about?"

Angel walked up and grabbed Olivia's hand. "I'm hungry, Nona."

"Ok, baby. Let's go get you some food." She looked at Nikki. "Later."

….

As they were finishing up dinner, there was a knock at the door.

Olivia sighed as she got up and walked to the door. She opened it to find Alexis and Jax.

"Oh, you are here! How are you? I went to the hospital, but they said you had left. I'm so sorry, honey." Alexis blurted out as she rushed in and hugged her.

"Olivia, I'm so sorry. If there is anything I can do for you, anything at all. Please, let me know." Jax said.

Alexis didn't give her a chance to reply. "I smell food. Good, that's good. I was going to bring you something to eat, but, well...let's be realistic. Had I tried to cook, I may have sent you to the hospital next. So, I'm glad…" she stopped mid sentence when she saw Nikki and Angel. "Oh, I'm sorry…how rude of me."

Jax followed her gaze. "Oh, my apologies, we didn't mean to intrude."

Nikki smiled. "It's ok." She said to him.

He looked at Olivia. "Is this…?"

Olivia smiled. "That's my Nikki."

"Nikki…of course." Alexis said walking over to her. "That means you must be Angel." She said looking down at Angel.

Angel looked from Alexis to Nikki and finally to Olivia. "Nona…" she said quietly.

"Stop complaining, already. Nona missed you so of course she talked about you all the time. And to anyone who would listen, I'm sure. So, get used to it." Nikki told her.

"Nikki, this is Alexis Davis and Jasper Jacks. My best friend and my boss. Though, Jax doubles as my best friend as well." She said smiling at him. "And they both know everything, so you can speak freely in front of them, honey."

She stood to shake their hands. "She's very wary of people in general, so please don't take any offense if she's a little standoffish." She told them gesturing toward Angel.

"Ah, well, that's to be expected in the situation you both have been in." Jax said. He looked down at Angel. "Hello there, sweetheart. I've heard so much about you."

"You look like Barbie's boyfriend. But, you don't sound like him." Angel said before turning back to her food.

Olivia laughed and looked apologetically at Jax who smiled in return. "She's adorable."

Alexis couldn't take her eyes off of Nikki. "Wow. I see so much of Krissy in you."

Nikki was confused. "Krissy? As in Kristina? Oh, are you her mom?" she asked her.

Alexis nodded.

"But, you look like such a smart woman." She looked at Olivia. "Guess that makes two of you that got suckered by him." Jax laughed. She put up her hands defensively. "I mean no disrespect to either one of you. Just pointing out the obvious. But, if you had not been, you both wouldn't have the kids you love so much." She smiled at them.

"And boy do they. You can't come into contact with either one of these women without hearing something about their kids. One of the things I love about them." Jax told her.

She smiled at him. "So, how about the mom of the other kids? Two boys, right? Michael and Morgan? Should I put her in the same category as my mom and Ms. Davis?"

"Oh, God no!" they all said at the same time and laughed.

"All done!" Angel exclaimed, putting her hands up.

"Oh, honey. You're such a big girl, now." Olivia said cleaning her face. "Can you say hi to Nona's friends Alexis and Jax?" she said picking her up.

"Hi." She looked at Nikki. "I ate all of my dinner mommy. Can I watch Ariel now?"

Olivia laughed. "Take her to the bedroom and let her watch it in there." She told Nikki, handing her over.

"But, Nona, I want you to watch it with me."

"I'll be in soon, baby. If not, I promise we'll have a movie weekend where you get to make Nona watch all of your favorite movies, ok?"

"And Nucle Dante?"

"Yes and Nucle Dante."

"Say good night to everybody." Nikki told her.

"Good night Ms. Alexis. Good night Mr. Jax." She waved as Nikki carried her out. "I'll be right back, ma."

…..

Olivia poured Alexis and Jax a glass of wine.

"Well, the reason they are here sucks, but you must be so happy to see them." Alexis said to her.

"I really am. My little Angel has gotten so big. She wouldn't let me go until we got here."

"How long are they here for?" Jax asked.

"They're not leaving."

Alexis and Jax exchanged looks.

"Don't do that. I know what I'm doing. They're miserable. I'm miserable. I'm not going to make them suffer anymore because of the NYPD's incompetence."

"This is good. Really, it is. I can't wait for the girls to meet." Said Alexis.

"I trust your judgment, Liv. And of course, if you need anything, I'll be right here for you." Jax told her.

Olivia sipped her wine. "Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you."

"Shoot."

"Since, they are going to be with me now; I need to get a bigger place. Do you know of anything available?"

"Yes, I do. You have enough to worry about. Leave this up to me. I'll have you all in a new, bigger place in no time."

Nikki walked back in and started clearing the table. She stopped in front of them on her way to the kitchen. "Um, Johnny made like…a ton of food. Would either of you like to eat?" she asked them.

"Johnny, huh?" Alexis said, looking at Olivia.

"Oh, shut up."

"You know what…we should go." Alexis said to Jax.

"Oh come on. His cooking is really not that bad." Nikki said.

Alexis laughed as she rose from the sofa. "No, no, no honey. It's just…you know…" she looked at Olivia and then turned back to Nikki. "You haven't seen your mom in almost two years. You have some catching up to do. We'll make plans to get together when things are calmer for you two, ok?"

"Oh, well, ok." She replied.

"Honey, don't worry, you're stuck with us. Whether you want to know us or not." Alexis joked. "Besides, I can't wait for you and my girls to meet."

"Girls?" she looked at Olivia before turning her attention back to Alexis.

"Oh, Krissy has two other sisters." She explained.

"Oh? Is Sonny…?"

Alexis laughed again. "Thankfully, no."

Jax stood up now. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Nikki. I'd love to set up a play date with Angel and Josslyn, if that's ok with you. When things calm down, of course."

"And Josslyn is…?"

"My daughter." He turned to Olivia. "I will call you as soon as I have everything finalized on your new place." He told her.

"Don't you dare go paying for anything, you hear me?" she warned him.

"Ah, hush." He said before turning to leave.

Alexis hugged Olivia again. "You need anything, anything at all, do not hesitate to call me."

"Thank you."

She walked over to Nikki and hugged her, much to her surprise.

"I am so happy that you are here." She told her.

"Ha. You may not feel the same after a week around me." She joked. "But, thank you. I'm happy to be here."

Olivia locked the door behind them and when she turned around, Nikki stood there with her arms crossed, smiling at her.

Knowing full well what she was thinking, Olivia laughed. "Can I at least take a shower before the interrogation?"

Angel came running in from the bedroom, alarming them.

"Nona, Nona, Nona!"

"Whoa, baby. What's wrong?" Olivia asked.

"Nothings wrong. Why?" she asked, innocently.

"Well you came running out here like a bat out of hell…why?" Nikki asked.

"Like a what?" she asked, confused. She turned to Olivia. "Nona, what's a bat out of…"

"Ok, stop. Don't repeat what your mother said." She looked at Nikki. "That's the language you use with her?"

"Oh, come on! Hell? I could say so much worse…and I do."

Olivia shook her head.

"Nona, where are your friends?" Angel asked, looking around for Alexis and Jax.

"They left honey." She told her. "Let me go take a quick shower and then you two can tell me…well…everything."

"I wanna take a bath, too." Said Angel.

"As soon as Nona is done, I'll take you a bath." Nikki told her.

"Oh no, let me?" Olivia asked her.

"Ooohhh...YAY! I want Nona to take me a bath!" Angel jumped up and down, excitedly.

Nikki laughed. "Ok, be my guest."

Olivia looked at Angel. "Give me 10 minutes."

After she had showered and changed into her pajamas, Olivia ran the water for Angel's bath.

"Angel baby, come here." She called out.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she squealed as she ran in.

Olivia laughed loudly. "Are you always this excited to take a bath?" she asked as she started to undress her.

"Nope, she's only this happy because it's you bathing her." Nikki said as she walked in.

"Aww, I feel so special. What are you doing?" she asked Angel as she reached over the side of the tub, sticking her hand in the water.

"I'm checking the water, silly Nona."

Olivia gasped. "I taught Mommy and Uncle Dante to do that when they were your age."

"That's what Mommy said when she showed me." Angel said smiling up at her.

"Is the water ok?" Angel nodded. "Ok then, my love, let's get you in there." She said as she lifted her and put her in the tub. "I'm afraid this is going to be a quick bath because I don't have any toys for you. We'll go shopping tomorrow I promise."

"Oh, here ma." Nikki said handing her a hair clip. "You don't have baby shampoo, so clip her hair up so she doesn't wet it."

Olivia scrutinized Angel as she bathed her. "Hmm...your coat and clothes made you look chunky, but I can see your ribs." She said eyeing Nikki who rolled her eyes.

"Here we go." She said.

"What? I have every right to make a comment. You're looking like a bag of bones, too. But…that's ok. You're here now…I'll fatten you both right up." She said tickling Angel.

Nikki laughed and handed her a towel. "I put her stuff on the bed. I'm gonna shower, I'll be right out."

Olivia dried Angel off, put lotion on her and grabbed her pajamas. "Well, who is this?" she asked Angel before putting the top over her head.

Angel looked down at her pajamas. "Nona, that's Dora. You don't watch her on TV?"

She laughed. "No, honey, I don't. You'll have to show me one day." She told her as she put her pants and socks on. "Ok, all done." She sighed and tears came to her eyes as she stared at Angel.

Angel looked at her, concerned. "What's wrong Nona?"

"Nothing baby." She said as she brushed her hair out of her eyes. "It's just…you got so big."

She didn't say anything, just hugged Olivia. "I'm thirsty, Nona." She shivered. "And cold."

"I think I know exactly what you need. Stay here and I will be right back. OK?" she told her.

Angel nodded and Olivia left the room.

A little while later, Nikki emerged from the bathroom to find Olivia and Angel snuggled up in bed with cups of hot cocoa and a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

"I hope there's some for me." She said.

"Come on, Mommy. Get in!" Angel said gesturing toward a spot in the bed next to her.

Nikki climbed over them into the bed, making Angel giggle.

"Owww…would it have been that hard to walk over to the other side?" Olivia said through her own giggles. "Your cup is on the nightstand."

"Look Mommy. Mr. Johnny got me Ariel." She said showing her the sippy cup she was drinking from.

"Speaking of Mr. Johnny…" Nikki said, looking over at Olivia.

She quickly changed the subject. "So, how have things been for you two?"

Angel laid back and snuggled closer to Olivia. "It was so bad, Nona. We missed you so much. Mommy cries all the time." She told her.

Olivia put her arm around her and grabbed Nikki's hand. "Well, Mommy wasn't the only one crying. I missed you guys, too."

"Now we're here and we can be a happy family again." Angel said before yawning.

"She's not in school yet, right?" Olivia asked her.

"No, but I've been teaching her as much as I can at home."

"I know how to use the puter, Nona."

"You do? I bet you're better than me."

Angel giggled and closed her eyes.

"What have you been doing all of this time, honey?"

"Not hooking up with younger guys. Or Skipper lookalikes." Nikki joked. "I couldn't do much. We kept moving around. So, getting a job was out of the question. But, I'll have you know, I now have a couple of degrees under my belt. Gotta love the internet and accelerated courses." She laughed.

"Mommy teaches me to dance." Angel said softly, half asleep.

"She does? I can't wait to see you dance. Will you dance for me?" Angel nodded. "You're still dancing? That's good, baby."

"It was all I could do from losing my mind." She yawned.

"It's been quite an eventful and overly emotional day for all of us. I think it's time to go to sleep. We have to get up early to go back to the hospital anyway."

"Well…" Nikki sat up a little to look at Angel. "Somebody is already asleep." She took her sippy cup out of her hand and placed it on the nightstand.

….

_**The Next Morning…**_

Nikki was in the kitchen making coffee and preparing to make breakfast when she heard a knock at the door.

"Crap. Who the hell is that?" She didn't want to answer since she was sure she wouldn't know who it was. So, she hoped they would just go away. Not wanting Olivia and Angel to wake up, she rushed to open the door when they knocked again.

She opened the door to see Lulu.

"Oh. Hi. Lulu, right?"

She nodded. "Good morning." When Nikki didn't invite her in, she spoke up. "Olivia suggested I go back to the hospital with you guys this morning."

"Yes, that's right! I'm sorry, come in." she closed the door behind her. "I completely forgot, I'm sorry." She apologized again.

"It's ok, really. You had a lot on your mind yesterday." She looked around for Olivia.

"They're not awake yet. Thanks to everything I've been dealing with, I'm a very light sleeper, whenever I do." She shrugged. "You want some coffee? I just made some."

"Sure, that'd be great. Thank you." Lulu said as she followed her to the kitchen.

Nikki placed the mug in front of her. "There's milk in the fridge and the sugar…" she said looking around.

"Is right here." Lulu said as she reached for a canister on the counter.

"Ah, yes, of course you would know." She said as she walked over to the stove. "Pancakes or omelet?" she asked her.

"Huh?"

Nikki turned around. "I'm making breakfast. I know you don't expect to sit there and not eat."

Lulu smiled. "You are so your mothers child. Omelet, please."

"You got it." She answered. "So…what do you do? You work? Go to school? Do you have kids?" Nikki asked trying to make conversation.

"Oh God no! No kids. I work at Crimson. It's a…"

Nikki interrupted her. "Connie's magazine? You work for her? Bless your soul, child."

Lulu laughed. "Yes, I do. My best friend does, too. Dante and Olivia told me that you dance. Do you still do that?"

She nodded. "Indeed I do and I'm teaching Angel. Why? Want me to teach you something?"

"No, I was just wondering if you still did."

"Hey, what do you guys do for fun around here? Do you have like…bars or nightclubs?"

"Well, we have Jakes. It's a bar that everyone goes to, nothing fancy. But, if you want fancy, the Metro Court has a restaurant/bar type thing going on. No nightclubs, though."

"Metro Court? As in where my mom works?" Lulu nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll pass on that. Cant risk embarrassing my mom and her kicking my ass for it."

They looked at each other and laughed. "I totally get that." Lulu said. "Which is why I never go there. But, maybe when Dante gets better I can take you out for a night at Jake's…you know…like a girls night out or something." She suggested.

"That sounds like a fabulous idea." Olivia said as she walked in with Angel in her arms.

"Good morning, mommy!" she yelled.

"You two are just in time for breakfast." Nikki said. "Good morning, baby. Ready for your pancakes?"

Angel nodded and Olivia sat her at the table with Lulu. "Hi, honey." She said to Lulu. She turned back to Nikki. "Does she eat pancakes every morning?"

"Pretty much." She said handing the plate over to her and putting Lulu's plate in front of her.

"Thank you." Lulu said.

"How about you, ma? Pancakes or omelet?"

"Coffee."

Angel looked up. "Hey…mommy has coffee for breakfast, too."

"Oh, does she?" Angel nodded and Olivia looked at Nikki. "Is that why you're so skinny?" Nikki rolled her eyes and Olivia looked back at Angel. "Does Mommy eat a lot?" she asked her.

"Ma…stop questioning the kid." She said shaking her head.

"How long have you been awake?" Olivia turned to Angel. "Does Mommy sleep?"

"Oh my God, ma! Seriously?" Nikki complained before Angel could answer.

As they continued to bicker, Angel looked over at Lulu. "Miss Lulu?"

"Yes?"

"Are they fighting?" she whispered.

"Oh no, sweetie. They just missed each other." She whispered back.

Angel looked at her, confused and when Lulu smiled at her, she smiled in return.

"Alright, since you two are done eating, how about we get to the hospital?" Olivia suggested.

"YAY! Let's go see Nucle Dante!" Angel said jumping up and down.

….

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Jacks, but we have strict orders on who is and is not allowed to see Mr. Falconeri. You are on the list of those that cannot."

"Come on, Epiphany. She doesn't even have to know you let me in. I'm sure Olivia put my name on there by mistake. She has no reason to keep me from seeing Dante." Epiphany looked behind her.

"Why would you even want to see my son? Unless you were sneaking Sonny in or trying to convince him not to press charges." Carly rolled her eyes and turned around to face Olivia. "I'd say I have more than enough reason to keep you out of his room."

"Who the hell is that?" asked Nikki.

"My cousin." Sighed Lulu.

"And Jax's ex-wife. Also known as the lapdog of Sonny and Jason." Said Olivia. "Let's go."

"Olivia, you can't continue to keep Sonny away from his son. Haven't you done that long enough?" Carly yelled after them.

Nikki stopped and turned around. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Carly looked surprised. "Who the hell are you?"

When Nikki moved toward her, Angel ran after her. "Mommy, where are you going? We have to go see Nucle."

Nikki stopped and looked down at her.

"Nikki, baby…come on. It's not worth it." Olivia said.

Carly realized who she was. "Oh."

Nikki looked back at her. "To answer your question, I have a feeling I'm your worst nightmare." She grabbed Angel's hand and followed her mother to Dante's room.

They opened the door to his room.

"Hey! It wasn't a dream, you really are here!" he exclaimed when he saw them.

"Damn. Those drugs are that good?" Nikki joked. "Seriously, though. You look pretty good for someone who got shot in their chest yesterday."

Angel gasped. "Somebody shoot you, Nucle?"

"Good job, Nicolette." Olivia said to her. "Don't worry baby, he's fine. See?" she lifted her up to see him.

"Hey munchkin. Can I have a hug?" he said reaching for her.

She smiled and nodded, reaching for him.

"Ah, see? I feel so much better already." He pulled away and looked at her. "You got so big. But, you're still my munchkin."

"When are you coming home?" she asked him.

"I don't know. But, I don't live with Nona. I have my own apartment. You're gonna come over, a lot." He told her. "I see you've met Lulu."

"Yeah, haven't figured out what's wrong with her yet." Nikki said, looking at her. "I mean, something's not right. Why else would she be with you?"

"Ohhhh….that's a low blow!" he said.

Lulu laughed. "I told Nikki that maybe when you're better, I can take her out for a girls night or something."

"I like the sound of that." He said. "Just don't go getting her into trouble." He said to his sister.

Nikki feigned shock. "Me? Never."

Olivia shook her head at them. "I think I'm going to have to either be there or take you one day myself just so Coleman knows you're untouchable. I know you. One look or comment from him and you'll punch him."

"Oh yeah. That's true. Good thinking, ma."

"Who's Coleman?"

"The bartender at Jake's. Pretty much hits on every woman that walks in. Olivia definitely needs to take you." Lulu laughed. "He isn't even cute."

Olivia laughed. "Aww, but he is actually a nice guy. Very easy to talk to. Once he knows you're not up for grabs, you'll love him."

After a little while, Lulu left for work. "Bye, Miss Lulu." Angel said waving.

"So, did anybody come in here giving you hell? I left strict orders that Sonny, Jason and Carly were not allowed to come in here to see you." Olivia said.

"Ma, relax. I've been asleep since you left yesterday. At least, I think I was." He laughed.

"Nona, I'm thirsty."

"Ok, come on. Let's go get you some juice."

Nikki sat down when they left.

"She looks more alive than I've seen her look in awhile, Nik. I know it's because you guys are here."

"Yeah, well you need to get better and out of here. I have some stuff I want to do for her, but I need your help." She told him. "Hey, what's up with this Johnny dude? He was in ma's place yesterday when we got there and then he left all mysterious and shit."

Dante closed his eyes and sighed.

"Ok, I take it you're not a fan?"

"That dude is bad news, man."

She sat up. "What do you mean? He hasn't tried to hurt her has he? Wait. Don't even answer that. I know better. She would kill him before he tried anything. But, what do you mean he's bad news? He seemed pretty ok."

"It's weird. Yeah, he'd never hurt ma, I know that. But, he's a mobster. So, he doesn't have to. She can still get hurt because of him."

"Ugh." She sat back and closed her eyes. "I knew there was something wrong with him. But, it's not like ma to get involved with a mobster. So, she must really like him."

"Not like ma? Really? Did you forget about Sonny?"

"Oh yeah. Him. Well, he doesn't count."

"Who doesn't count?" Olivia asked as she and Angel walked back in.

"Donald Trump. Who cares about him?" Nikki answered quickly. "Hey, we need to go shopping and wonder boy here seems to be getting sleepy."

"Jax just called me, too. Wants me to go look at a place. Are you ok with us leaving, baby?" she asked Dante.

"Of course, ma. You can't keep munchkin in here all day anyway. You getting a new place?" he asked her.

"Well, my one bedroom isn't going to cut it for the three of us for that long."

They all kissed him and promised to come back later in the day.

…

_**Later that day…**_

They were finally home after a long day of shopping and another visit to Dante.

"I cannot believe you flat out told your boss to pretty much shove his money up his ass." Nikki said.

"Honey, did you see that house? No way in hell I can afford it and I don't want him paying for anything for me. Plain and simple."

Nikki put up her hands. "Hey, I'm not fighting with you, I just found it hilarious." She laughed.

"Does she usually nap?" she gestured to Angel asleep in her lap.

"When she feels like it." She grabbed the glasses and bowls they had their ice cream in from the coffee table. "Let me go wash these." She said walking to the kitchen.

_**Knock. Knock. Knock.**_

"Olivia! It's Jason. I have a message from Sonny. Can you open the door please?"

Olivia sighed and rolled her eyes.

Nikki gasped and dropped the dishes, her eyes wide.

"_**What did they do to you? Hey. No. Stay with me. I'm gonna get you to the hospital. Stay with me. What's your name? Can you tell me that? Huh? Come on. Stay with me."**_

The sound of the glass shattering startled Olivia and woke Angel from her nap.

"What the hell? Are you ok, baby?" Olivia asked her.

Nikki rushed to the door and pulled it open. She looked up and into the piercing blue eyes that have haunted her dreams for years.

"It _**is**_ you." She said.


	10. Changes

*****Author's note: Since my feelings have changed about a lot, I have changed things with this story. I wrote this chapter awhile back and figured I should at least post it. But, the next one I post will not pick up exactly where this one left off. Don't worry. Not too far in the future. Maybe just a few weeks. And the changes will have already begun…*** **

Jason looked down at Nikki, confused. "I'm sorry. I think you have me confused…"

She shook her head. "No. No, I don't. You're the guy who saved my life. There's no way in hell I could forget that."

Olivia spoke up behind her. "Well, honey, I don't know. As far as I know, Jason has always lived here in Port Charles. I don't see how he…"

Nikki cut her off. "I know what I'm talking about." She turned to Jason. "Please, come in." She closed the door behind him and turned around to face him. "You have to remember." He looked at her apologetically. "You found me in a dark alley…and I was…" She stopped when she saw Angel looking at her. "You got me to the hospital. In Brooklyn…"

Jason looked at her. "What's your name?" he asked her.

"Nicolette…Nikki…Falconeri." She told him.

Recognition set in. "Oh my…God. That was so long ago." He paused and looked at her. "You made it. You survived."

"You remember?" She asked.

He nodded.

"I did make it. Thanks to you. Not that you stood around to find out or anything."

"I'm sorry." He stared at her in disbelief. "Wait. Falconeri?" He turned to look at Olivia.

"Yup. She's mine." She confirmed.

He looked back at Nikki.

"Mommy, you broke Nona's plates." Angel said, looking at the broken glass on the floor.

"Is that your daughter?" He asked her.

"Yes. That's my Angel." She moved past him. "Stay on the sofa, baby. Let me clean this up."

Jason remained standing in the same spot, taking in this new information.

Olivia turned to him. "Ever since that horrible night, I have hoped to find out who was responsible for saving my baby's life. Never in a million years would I have guessed it was you. Funny how things happen."

"Olivia, I didn't do anything. I just took her to the hospital."

She walked up to him and hugged him, catching him off guard. "If you hadn't arrived when you did and gotten her to that hospital, she wouldn't have made it. Thank you, Jason. Thank you so much."

Nikki finished cleaning up and walked back in.

"Did they ever find…um…" He looked over at Angel.

"Yes. In a sense." Olivia told him.

"It was just a case of one psycho replacing another." Nikki joked.

He looked at both of them, confused.

"That's a conversation for another time." Olivia told him. He nodded in response. "Oh. You said you were here for Sonny. What does he want?" She asked him.

He took a deep breath. "You know what? It's not important. I should go." He said walking to the door.

Nikki followed him.

He turned to look at her again before leaving.

"Thank you, Jason. I owe you."

He simply shook his head, smiled and left.

"Well…that was…interesting." Said Olivia.

"Who was that, Mommy?" Angel asked Nikki.

"Jason."

"Why did he leave?"

"Because it's late. But, we will go see him tomorrow." She looked at Olivia. "Do you know where he lives, ma?"

Olivia looked at her suspiciously. "Yes. Why? Honey, I know you're happy to have found him and I understand that you want to thank him. But, he leads a very dangerous life. Being anywhere near him is putting yourself in danger."

Before Nikki could respond, Olivia's cell phone rang.

Olivia smiled when she looked at her phone. "Hi honey."

"_Hey gorgeous."_ Johnny said. _"How's Dante doing?"_

"He's doing good. Thank God. How are you?"

Angel leaned closer to Nikki. "Nona's talking to her boyfriend, right?" she whispered.

Nikki looked at her and giggled. "You see that smile on her face?" She nodded. "That means, yes she is."

They both looked at Olivia and giggled.

Olivia shook her head at them and smiled as she walked to the other room.

"_Sounds like the girls are enjoying themselves."_ He said.

"Yes, they are. Makes me happy."

"_I miss you."_ He told her.

"Aww, honey. Are you home? I can sneak out and come see you." She joked.

He smiled. _"Nothing_ _would make me happier. But, I'm not home and I won't be anytime soon."_

She sighed. "Oh. Well, how about tomorrow? Lulu mentioned taking Nikki and Angel shopping. So, I'll be alone for a little bit." She suggested.

"_That sounds perfect."_

She heard noise in the background. "John, what's going on? Is everything ok?" She asked.

"_Yea. Everything is fine. But, I gotta go. I'll call you in the morning. Love you."_

He hung up before she could reply.

"Boy, that's a completely different face than before." Nikki said as Olivia walked back into the living room. "Everything ok, ma?"

Olivia sighed and smiled.

"Need to talk, Nona?" Angel asked her. "I'll go watch a movie." She said as she walked to the bedroom.

They watched her go and Olivia looked at Nikki, shocked. "Did she really just do that?"

Nikki laughed. "I do believe she did." She patted the sofa next to her. "Come on. Sit down and spill."

Olivia sat down. "Where do I start?"

"From the beginning. How did you meet Johnny?" Nikki said as she passed her a glass of wine.

She took a deep breath and looked at her. "No judging." She warned her. "I met him at a bar. We got pretty drunk and I brought him back here with me."

Nikki looked at her, trying to hide her shock. "You…you…" She stopped herself and smiled. "Never mind. Keep going."

Olivia gave her a look and continued. "There's not really much to tell. We were really only supposed to be a one night thing. Then we started hooking up regularly and getting to know each other. And…then…"

"You fell in love."

"Yea. I guess that's what happened." She paused, lost in thought. "We had some issues at one point because of lingering feelings I thought I had for Sonny."

"What?"

"Shhh… His sister was married to Sonny and let me tell you, that bitch hated me. Don't get me wrong. The feeling was completely mutual. Anyway, she found out about Dante being Sonny's son and used it as blackmail to get me to break up with John. We ended up seeing each other secretly…until…HE found out about Dante. Not that he was Sonny's son…but that he was undercover. And broke up with me. Then…"

Nikki cut her off. "Wait…wait a minute. He broke up with you because he found out Dante was undercover? That makes no sense."

"He broke up with me because I didn't tell him about Dante."

"You didn't tell him you had kids?"

"Yes, I did. What I didn't tell him was that Dante was undercover investigating Sonny."

"And? That's none of his business."

"He is in the same business as Sonny. So he could've easily been taken down by Dante, too. He was pissed that I knew that and still didn't tell him."

"Because you were protecting your SON. No matter how you spin it, ma. You weren't wrong. And to be honest…not a fan of your boyfriend. Do not even get me started on the fact that he is a mobster and you swore you'd never date one. What the hell, ma?"

Olivia looked at her and shrugged. "I don't know. I love him, remember?"

"Do you? Do you really?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Olivia asked her.

Nikki rolled her eyes. "Look, I'll admit that I can tell you're happy with him. But, you seem…I don't know…what's bothering you?"

"This was never supposed to be anything serious. This thing between us. I still don't think it'll last and feel like it's already falling apart." She admitted to her.

"Why? Is it because we're here now?"

Olivia shook her head. "No, honey. He's always known that you all come first. I just…I can't deal with the life he lives and he's never going to leave it. He's been really…weird…lately, too." She sighed. "I don't know. I guess shit will hit the fan eventually."

"Have you asked him what's going on with him? You know. Why all the weirdness?"

"Not yet. But you know me. I will."

They were quiet for a bit.

"So." Nikki said. Olivia looked at her. "You really picked up some kid at a bar and brought him home with you? YOU? Who are you and what the hell have you done with my mother?"

They stared at each other and burst into giggles.

"I told you not to judge me!" Olivia said as she smacked her in her arm.

"I'm not, ma. I promise. I just couldn't help it. I had to say something."

_**The next afternoon…**_

Johnny let himself in with his key just as Olivia was just walking out of the bedroom.

"Hey you." She said as she rushed over to him.

"Hey yourself." He replied as he put his arms around her and kissed her.

"Mmmm…I've missed you." She said in between kisses.

He pulled her into a hug. "Not as much as I've missed you."

She led him over to the sofa. "So. What's going on with you?" She got straight to the point.

He looked at her surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Honey…you've been very secretive and very distant, lately. Is there something you want to tell me?"

Johnny looked at her and sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just…business. I know how much you hate it, so that's why I've been…quiet." He told her.

"Are you sure that's it?" She asked him.

"I'm very sure. And just so you know, I may be distant and quiet and secretive, but…" He pulled her closer to him. "You're always on my mind." He said before kissing her.

She kissed him back with so much passion, she surprised both of them. It was then that he realized she was only wearing a t-shirt and caressed her leg. She looked at him and smiled, with lust in her eyes. Without saying a word, she moved from her spot next to him and straddled him right there on the sofa. He put his hands on her hips as she kissed him while unbuttoning his shirt.

"Mommy, you think Nona will like the bracelet?" Angel asked Nikki.

"I'm sure she'll love it."

"And the cupcake?" Angel asked looking at the container in her mother's hand.

"Yup." Nikki answered as she struggled with all of the bags. "Hold on a sec, baby. I'm trying to get the keys…"

Angel reached up and turned the knob. "It's open, Mommy." She pushed the door in and that's when Nikki heard her mother.

"Nona?" Angel asked, looking confused.

Olivia jumped. "Oh my God!"

"Oh…Oh…shit…" Nikki dropped everything in her hands and looked away. "Shit. Oh…I'm so sorry…Oh my God." She pulled Angel back out of the apartment and ran.

"That's now…both of your kids…both…have caught us…" Johnny said, breathlessly.

"And my granddaughter…" Olivia said, burying her face in the sofa.

Nikki rushed into the Metro Court lobby.

"Mommy, why did we leave? What was Nona doing?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking down at Angel. "Stop asking so many questions."

Angel looked around. "Where are we?"

Nikki walked up to the front desk. "Hi, I'm looking for Mr. Jacks. Do you know where I can find him?"

The attendant, recognizing her from the other day with Olivia, told her he was most likely in his office and directed her to it.

Jax looked up when she knocked. "Hey, you guys." He quickly stood up and walked around his desk to greet them. "What brings you two here?"

"Um…that house you showed us yesterday."

"Yes, what about it?"

"I'd like to…no…I need…to buy it." She said to him.

He looked confused. "I'm sorry? You want to buy it? But, I thought your mother said…"

"Don't worry about that." She interrupted him. "I want to buy it for her."

"Is everything ok, Nikki? You look…"

"Everything is fine. I just need to buy that house. I have the money to do so, I promise. Can you help me or not?"

"Of course I can. I'll call the realtor tomorrow and…"

"No. Call her now. Please."

"May I ask what the rush is? Are you sure you're ok, Nikki?"

"I just walked in…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath again. "Let's just say…my mother needs her own space. She just…she needs…space."

"Ok. Let me call the realtor. Please, have a seat."

Her cell phone rang before she could reply. She looked at it and saw it was Olivia. "I'm gonna step out and take this. Angel, sit there and don't move or touch anything." She told her. She picked up the phone as she walked to the door. "Hello."

Olivia sighed. _"I thought you weren't going to answer. Where are you?"_

"In church. Washing my and my daughters…your granddaughters…eyes out with holy water!" She told her.

She tried not to laugh. _"Honey, I'm so sorry. I truly did not expect you guys back so soon. I…I…"_

"It's ok, ma. You don't need to apologize. You're a grown woman and it's your place."

"_But still…that's not something you or Angel…oh my God…my little angel…she must be so fucking confused. Where are you? Let me come get you."_

"No. It's ok. I'll be home in a few minutes. Just…stop worrying or she will be even more curious and confused when she sees you again…fully clothed, I hope. Bye."


End file.
